U.S. consumers tend to be a resilient bunch around the holiday spending season.
Making room in the budget for presents and party favors in an economy where prices are up across the board may not be easy, but that’s exactly what the great American consumer plans on doing around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, according to a new study from Adobe.
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Overall, consumers are expected to spend $221.8 billion via online holiday shopping alone this year.
That’s up 4.8% over 2022, the study reported. While there are multiple spending patterns in play, “buy now, pay later” spending may account for the online shopping hike, with consumers set to spend $17 billion using BNPL, Adobe states. That figure is up from $14.5 billion last year.
Another factor: more price discounting this year, the study said. Some prices may be 35% off list.
At $113 billion, mobile device shopping will likely be the dominant factor in consumer spending over the next 12 weeks, Adobe noted.
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What do Americans plan to buy with all that cash this holiday season?
For starters, electronics, apparel, furniture/home goods, groceries, and toys “will contribute $144.2 billion in spending this season, for over half of the season’s overall spend ($221.8 billion),” Adobe stated.
Product specifically, consumers are setting their sights on the toy aisle, especially focusing on
LEGO Minifigures, Kanoodle 3D, Barbie the Movie products, Shape Shifting Box, Tamagotchi Nano x Harry Potter, and Transforming Ariel Fashion Doll, among others.
Gaming will be another consumer crowd favorite, with Sony PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch OLED, and Meta Quest 3 VR Headset top among gaming consoles.
On the video game front, Madden NFL 24, NBA 2k24, Mortal Kombat 1, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros Wonder, Cities Skylines 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Hogwarts Legacy, and Starfield lead the lineup.
“Other top sellers this holiday season will include iPhone 15 models, headphones, e-readers and Kindles, Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo cameras, Ember Mugs, Roombas, and Birkenstock Bostons,” Adobe reported.
Many of the above items are likely to be discounted heading into the holiday shopping season, especially on designated discount shopping days like Amazon Prime Day (October 10 and 11) and in the days leading up to Christmas Day when retailers rev up efforts to reduce inventory. Shoppers can expect to see items routinely discounted in the 18% range (particularly on the two Amazon Prime days), Adobe stated.
Shoppers will be starting early this year, as well. 49% of 1,000 consumers surveyed for the study say they started their holiday shopping splurge in October.
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