skynesher
Two recent polls have come to different assessments on how the American consumer will spend this holiday season.
Although it appeared retailers would be buoyed this holiday season thanks to strong sales over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, a new Monmouth University poll indicates that consumer spending may not be as strong as initially thought.
Their survey indicates that inflationary pressures are negatively impacting consumer spending for the holidays. Results indicate that 55% of Americans will cut back on holiday shopping due to higher prices. Last year, that figure stood at 46%, and in 2021, 40%.
While cutbacks on holiday shopping are happening across all economic demographics, the greatest declines are seen among those making less than $50K annually. In this group, 67% have cut back this year compared to 48% in 2022.
Results showed that overall, 36% of respondents have cut back a lot on spending, with another 19% saying they have cut back a little.
“The rate of inflation may be slowing but the damage has been done after a long stretch of rising prices,” noted Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray.
Incidentally, 79% of respondents said that they believe Santa will put them on his nice list, with just 10% saying they will make his naughty list.
The poll was conducted via telephone from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 and included ~800 adults.
However, another recent poll — this one from Gallup — is more reassuring to retailers. It found that Americans plan to spend an average $975 on holiday gifts, a $108 increase from last year. The pollster noted this is the highest figure seen since 1999.
Unsurprisingly, middle and upper-income brackets are expected to spend the most this holiday season. Those with an a annual household income between $40,000 and $99,999 plan to spend $947 on average, up from $709 in 2022.
Among genders, men, on average, plan to spend more than women and the highest spending in age groups is in the 35 to 54 years old demographic. Overall, about 37% of those polled plan to spend $1k or more on gifts.
Results found that 53% of respondents said they expect to spend about as much as they did in 2022, while 27% said they will spend less and 19%, more.
Top retailers: Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Target (TGT), Walmart (NYSE:WMT), Best Buy (BBY), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Costco (COST), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Lowe’s Companies (LOW), eBay (EBAY), Wayfair (W), and Etsy (E).
Broadline retailers: Macy’s (M), Nordstrom (JWN), Dillard’s (DDS), Ross Stores (ROST), TJX Companies (TJX), Kohl’s Corp. (KSS), and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI).