2021 Holiday Spending Statistics: How Are Consumers Planning to Shop This Season?
Written by Team Clearcover | November 12th, 2021
Americans are making their holiday gifting lists and checking them twice—especially with anticipated supply issues this coming gift-giving season.
With people being more willing to travel this year than they were in 2020, consumers have already started their holiday shopping—and are stocking up on more gifts than they did last year.
Clearcover surveyed over 600 Americans living and working in the U.S. for an in-depth look at winter holiday travel and spending plans*, and in this article, we’ll dive into some surprising 2021 holiday spending statistics.
Tis the season for shopping and gift-giving
Americans were cooped up for a long time in 2020 due to COVID-19, and more people are willing to travel during the holidays in 2021. People are excited to enter into the gift-giving season with the ability to create new memories with family and friends.
With the increase of 2021 holiday travel, 46% of Americans surveyed are planning to spend more on holiday shopping this year than they did last year.
59% of those surveyed say they’ll be buying for more people as a way to stay in touch after a year of seeing each other less.
47% say that they will be seeing more people than last year, and therefore have more people to buy for.
But even with many consumers planning to increase their 2021 holiday spending, some are tightening their budgets: 9% of respondents predict they’ll be spending less on gifts this holiday season than they did last year.
The majority (55%) of those who plan on spending less said they have a lower budget for holiday shopping due to COVID-19 related economic losses. (This is something that respondents were 41% more likely to say this year than last year.)
Most Americans had an earlier start to holiday spending in 2021
Most 2021 holiday shoppers began their hunt for the perfect gift early—earlier than they did in 2020. In fact, the number of people shopping earlier increased by 33%.
The majority of those surveyed (53%) started their holiday shopping in October or earlier—but in 2020, only 20% of respondents got started before the spooky season ended.
37% of people who responded to the survey plan to start their holiday shopping in November 2021.
Only 7% of those surveyed say they’ll start their shopping in December.
In 2021, the biggest concerns are shipping times and product availability
So what’s the rush? Almost 3 out of 4 respondents said they started shopping earlier because of COVID-19 related concerns.
During the 2020 holiday season, shipping times were slowed. So it makes sense that the majority (71%) of people are concerned about package delivery times this upcoming holiday season.
And 3 out of 4 Americans surveyed are also concerned about supply issues and low stock, so they’re getting their shopping done sooner.
Online shopping shows no sign of slowing with the continued COVID-19 pandemic
Despite concerns with shipping times, Americans are still planning to do a lot of their holiday shopping online—and even more of it than they did last year.
68% of respondents anticipate spending a higher percentage of their shopping budget at online retailers compared to last year.
78% of those surveyed say they will shop Cyber Monday deals this holiday season.
63% of shoppers already took advantage of promotions like Amazon Prime Day to get a head start on holiday shopping.
But in-person retail shopping is predicted to increase, too. People are ready to return to picking out gifts in person, with 52% of those surveyed planning to shop in-store for Black Friday this year. (And that’s something shoppers are 41% more likely to plan on doing this year than in 2020.)
2021 consumer holiday spending forecast
In addition to shopping earlier than last year, people are also planning to buy more.
Here’s the breakdown:
46% reported they will be spending more this holiday season on gifts than they did last year.
45% said they will be spending the same amount this holiday season on gifts as they did last year.
9% reported they will be spending less this holiday season on gifts than they did last year.
For comparison, Americans who responded to this survey reported spending an average of $2,870 on their holiday shopping in 2020. Parents are the biggest holiday spenders by far: The average spent on holiday shopping by those with no children was $932, whereas the average spending for those with kids was $3,991.
Americans expect to increase charitable giving this year
The most heart-warming holiday spending statistic we came away with? The majority of survey participants (56%) plan to give more to charitable causes this year than they did last year.
Americans surveyed were 37% more likely to say they were increasing charitable giving this year than they were in 2020. Now, that’s what we call the holiday spirit!
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*We polled 606 respondents who live and work in the U.S. and intend to buy gifts for others this holiday season. The survey was conducted at 95% confidence, +/- 4% margin of error.
