Holiday Buying: Americans’ spending, retailers’ preparations

Have you done your holiday shopping yet? 🏬 Do you even plan on doing holiday shopping? 🛍️ The answer to that second question is likely yes, based on data from the National Retail Federation, which shows Americans are SPENDING. 💴

TOLEDO, Ohio — Yes, businesses closed and incomes suffered during the pandemic due to higher inflation, people being laid off, and overall hesitancy to spend on large purchases from the uncertainty of the time. But what’s impressive is how Americans’ spending has rebounded in the time since.

Taking 2022, for example, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows Americans overall spent 9% more money. And while this year’s data isn’t expected until next year, of course, there’s enough to suggest this year in holiday shopping will be a good one.

The National Retail Federation forecast for the Thanksgiving holiday was that an estimated 182 million Americans were slated to shop online and in-person, 15.7 million more than last year. For the holidays overall, the NRF released its forecast at the beginning of the month, which predicted a 3–4% jump in sales from 2022. However, the NRF says the increase is “consistent with the average annual holiday increase of 3.6% from 2010 to 2019.”

$957.3 to $966.6 billion is expected to be spent by Americans, which is why the NRF expects retailers to be well-prepared for the onset of shoppers on a mission. 345,000 to 450,000 seasonal workers are expected to be onboarded to accommodate the flood of paying customers, in line with the previous year.

One of the biggest shifts since the pandemic, the federation says, has been the continual rise of online shopping. This year, it’s expected to grow between 7% and 9%, which equates to between $273.7 and $278.8 billion in growth.