The winter holiday shopping season begins in the fall for many consumers. From the shopping frenzies of Black Friday and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Cyber Monday to the last-minute sales just before the actual holidays happen, shoppers feverishly continue to try to find the perfect meaningful gifts💛 for everyone on their list. 

With gifts, parties, decorations, and high 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation, the holiday season in Ameriಞca is becoming more expensive. Below is a look at the average cost of the American holiday season and why the cost is steadily rising.

Planned Winter Holiday Spending for 2024

Holiday retail sales in November and December 2024 are expected to grow 2.5% to 3.5%, to a new record of between $979.5 billion and $989 billion. That's a jump from the $955.6 billion record set in 2023. In 2022, it was a $929.5 billion record. Prior to this, sales averaged an increase of 3.6% from 2010 to 2019, according to the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:National Retail Federation (NRF).

Some segments, such as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:candy and decorations,🐷 can see consumer spending kick up as early as September. In 2023, the top four gift cat🃏egories consumers planned to spend on were:

• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Gift cards (55%)
• Clothing or accessories (49%)
• Books, video games, or other media (28%)
• Personal care or beauty items (25%)

In 2023, many of these gifts were purchased over Thanksgiving weekend by a record-estimated 182 million shoppers. This was 15.7 million more people than in 2022 and is the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017.

In 2024, the NRF expects online and other non-store sales to increase between 8% and 9% to between $295.1 billion and $297.9 billion over the holidays. This figure was up from $273.3 billion in 2023 and $255.8 billion in 2022.

The Impact of Inflation on Spending

Higher prices and inflation continue to weigh on the minds of consumers. Many shoppers plan to start spending as early as November on their holiday shopping. About 60% of those surveyed in 2023 by the NRF indicated they would do so to help keep their budget intact while 41% of shoppers said they didn't want to pass up the lower prices and major promotions offered by retailers.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.0% in the second quarter of 2024. In August 2024, the PCE price index increased 2.2% (2.7% excluding food and energy) compared to a year prior. Because the PCE considers the substitution of one (lower-priced) product for another, it helps explain increased consumer spending in an inflated market.

The Bottom Line

Americans’ spending has increased each holiday season since 2010, and that tradition is expected to continue in 2024. Holiday retail sales are expected to grow 2.5% to 3.5% over 2023's record sales, reaching a new record. More people are expected to spend more individually compared to previous years while travel is supposed to rise. Of course, we won’t know how much people actually spend until the holiday season is over. Stay tuned.