Keisha Virtue: Expert Analyst Discusses Holiday Shopping Trends
As the holiday season approaches, consumers are still planning to spend despite economic concerns. According to JLL’s recently released Holiday Shopping Survey Report 2023, shoppers are seeking experiences this year rather than staying home due to inflation and decreasing consumer confidence.
In a survey of over 1,000 consumers, JLL found that the average person plans to spend $958 on holiday shopping. However, this number varies by income level. Additionally, more than one-fifth of that spending will go towards entertainment such as dining out and attending live performances or movies.
JLL’s Senior Analyst of Research Keisha Virtue notes that she was surprised by how much consumers are prioritizing experience this holiday season compared to previous years. Dining out and going to the movies were among the top planned activities for shoppers surveyed.
While most consumers plan on visiting physical retailers during their shopping trips, online ordering for home delivery is also popular with over three-fourths of respondents indicating they will do so. Interestingly enough though, many shoppers plan on using multiple channels for their purchases.
Virtue also points out a growing trend in self-gifting among shoppers with over three-quarters saying they plan on buying something for themselves while shopping for others during the holidays.
For retailers looking ahead at what products may be in demand this year and which stores may see increased traffic from customers based off these findings:
– Apparel
– Electronics
– Toys & Games
– Gift Cards
Additionally mass merchandisers like dollar stores along with clothing stores made it into top five list store types targeted by those surveyed according data collected from expansion plans announced earlier in 2021 thus far.
Social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram could prove useful tools when targeting potential customers as approximately one-third say they’ll use them inspire ideas while TikTok has proven popular especially amongst younger demographics.
