National Retail Federation (NRF) Consumer Research Reports Consumers Plan Holiday Spending to be flat Compared to Last Year; Expect This to be biggest omnichannel holiday ever

An NRF survey of over 7,300 customers indicated that the average spending per person this year will be almost flat with last year, increasing to $806 this year versus $802 last year. This is the highest amount of spending in the survey’s 14 year history, but is still disappointing to retailers.

“We continue to see positive momentum in retail sales growth, giving us reason to believe consumers will show up this holiday season as they look to take advantage of all of retailers’ promotional offerings,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “In an effort to attract all shoppers – from the extremely price sensitive to the online millennial, retailers will be offering exclusive incentives, low prices, price-matching, top toys and everyone’s favorite - free shipping and buy online pick up in store offers.”

It is expected to be the most omnichannel holiday ever. Online spending is expected to be 46% of total spending this year. The survey found that 21.4% of shoppers will use their smartphone to purchase holiday merchandise. 37.9% will research products on their smartphones, and 20.3% will use it to look up product availability in stores.

Adding to the complexity of predicting holiday spend is consumer spending behavior. 40% of shoppers surveyed begin their holiday shopping before Halloween. When asked why, shoppers indicated the need to spread out their budget (61%), avoiding crowds (48%) and avoiding stress of last minute shopping (46%).

Source: Retailing Today