Clothing Tops Holiday Shopping Choices, NRF Says

As three-quarters (74 percent) of consumers mark their calendars to shop during the upcoming five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the latest survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics shows the top items consumers are shopping for throughout the holiday shopping season, including the most popular toys.

“This holiday season, particularly the busy shopping days surrounding Thanksgiving, marks an important time of year for many Americans who enjoy traditions and celebrations with family and friends,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retailers are stocked and ready with competitively priced products to help customers stretch their budgets and find all the items on their holiday lists.”

The top five gift categories consumers plan to give are clothing (56 percent), followed by gift cards at 44 percent, toys at 37 percent, books, video games and other media at 31 percent and food/candy at 29 percent. A record 28 percent of consumers intend to buy personal care and beauty items as gifts this holiday season, up from about one-quarter in recent years. 

The most popular source for gift inspiration remains online search (44 percent), followed by friends and family (35 percent), in-store (32 percent) and wish lists (26 percent).

“Social media continues to be a popular destination to find holiday gift ideas, especially among younger consumers, who are turning to TikTok and Instagram for inspiration,” Prosper Insights & Analytics Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “For those between the ages of 35 and 44, Facebook is the favored platform for gathering gift ideas.”

Gift cards remain a perennial favorite for holiday shoppers. Total gift card spending is expected to reach $29.3 billion, up from $28.6 billion last year. Similar to last year, holiday shoppers plan to purchase between three to four gift cards and spend an average of $49.43 per card ($166.69 per person).

Restaurant gift cards are most popular (30 percent), followed by bank-issued gift cards (26 percent), department stores (26 percent) and coffee shops (21 percent).

The top toys for boys this year include Legos, Hot Wheels and cars, and the top toys for girls include Barbie, dolls and Legos.  

Holiday shoppers expect to spend $875 on average on gifts, decorations, food and other key seasonal items.

Forty-seven percent of holiday shoppers say they use debit cards most often to pay for holiday items, compared with 35 percent saying they use credit cards. Five years ago, 37 percent said they used debit cards most often and 42 percent said they used credit cards. Those saying they mostly use cash (16 percent) has stayed the same. A majority of holiday shoppers (59 percent) are also using alternative payment methods such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Venmo, up from 54% last year. 

The survey asked 8,424 adult consumers about their holiday shopping plans. It was conducted Nov. 1-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

Overall holiday spending is expected to reach record levels during November and December and will grow between 3 percent and 4 percent over 2022, totaling $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion, according to NRF’s holiday forecast. By comparison, last year holiday sales totaled $929.5 billion.

As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF provides data on consumer behavior and spending for key periods such as holidays throughout the year.

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