National Retail Federation: 2023 U.S. Holiday Shopping Report

According to the latest consumer survey, Americans who celebrate the holidays in 2023 expect to spend an average of $875 on gifts, decorations, food and other key seasonal items. This is $42 more than what will be spent in 2022 and is consistent with the average budget of the past five years.

About $620 of the $875 planned to be spent is for gifts, and consumers have allocated $255 for seasonal items such as decorations, candy or food.

Shopping destination trends are still evolving, with 58% of consumers planning to shop online, followed by department stores (49%), discount stores (48%), and grocery stores and supermarkets (44%).

Gift cards remain the most popular gift, with 55% of holiday shoppers expecting to receive one this year, followed by apparel or accessories (49%), books, video games or other media (28%), and personal care or beauty items (25%).

23% of holiday shoppers say they plan to give experiential gifts, consistent with last year and up from 19% in 2021.

Even though consumers have a larger holiday budget than last year, they are looking for ways to make the most of it. When it comes to buying gifts, 62% of consumers say sales and promotions are more important to them this year than last year. About one-third (36%) say they are cutting back on spending in other areas to pay for holiday items, while 30% are buying gifts for fewer people and another 27% are spending less on gifts for themselves.

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

The most popular source of gift inspiration remains online searches (44%), followed by friends and family (35%), physical stores (32%) and wish lists (26%).