Most shoppers will be cutting back overall spending and/or aiming for more gift cards and experiences than in recent years.
Online shopping will win out over in-person, with peak holiday shopping of any kind playing out Friday November 21 to Sunday December 14.
Price × value will be the deciding factor for most gift shoppers (versus novelty, convenience, buzz, etc). Gift-buyers won’t mind spending more on a single item, if they feel that the value is there; otherwise, they are looking for deals. And fewer shoppers will treat themselves this year, too.
Friday December 19 is the most general domestic US shipping deadline for December 24 delivery across carriers, so online Sellers will have the best advantage over in-person gift shopping for last-minute shoppers between Monday December 15 through Friday December 19.
As always but perhaps even more so this year, gift cards favor online Sellers, so stay alert for a spike between Christmas and New Year’s. Consider repeating some pre-holiday deals at this time.
Again, this survey of shoppers was conducted end of August and beginning of September, so
Also keep in mind that this is “just” a survey of shoppers and not necessarily a professional economist’s analysis or projection.
And my own thought–given how many of those surveyed admitted going into debt for holiday gifting –maybe a 10% reduction for some respondents is more likely just a personal goal? A resolution for 2025, now that they realized that they overspent in 2024?
ETA: Also, just to be clear, not a 10% drop in retail sales, but a self-reported 10% reduction in shopper spending for holiday gifts.
I don’t recall what the consumer sentiment was at that time but I don’t think it was great, and I doubt it’s gotten any better, nor will any progress made on trade affect projected costs for this year.
So I guess we will see what happens as they say…
Oh yea, might be good if the Govt reopened one of these days, but that’s a subject thou shall not discuss here. lol
Deloitte was not known for quality work before AI, and I’m guessing they aren’t any better with AI. Oh wait
So take all Deloitte info with a grain of salt.
That being said I do believe sales will be down this year due to a combination of factors including but not limited to Unemployment rate, increased costs, and what ever is posted at 4am on the interwebs the night before
Exactly. We will take the heads up where we can (this survey), prep and have plans already in place to adjust nimbly, and then…just get through it.
Usually there aren’t many big events between September and October, that would necessarily impact consumer trends. But this is 2025, so…
I did appreciate that in Amazon’s layoffs, they seem to be paying staff for 90 days–a small thing but one less small thing for the affected people. Amazon doesn’t want them working there but definitely wants them shopping there this holiday.
Not sure if the others are all offering that, too.
–maybe a 10% reduction for some respondents is more likely just a personal goal? A resolution for 2025, now that they realized that they overspent in 2024?
