The average American will spend $710 on holiday gifts this year with that figure nearly doubling to $1,384 among those who earn $100,000 or more per year, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. Women will particularly power the holiday shopping season with 100% of those surveyed planning to hit the stores, while 12% of men have no holiday shopping plans. But both male and female consumers’ intentions to “give back” continues to make a comeback – increasing from 63% last year to 67% this year. Other findings:
· 51% of consumers will wrap up holiday shopping at least one week before Christmas, 5% anticipate shopping up to Christmas Eve.
· 43% of shoppers will pick up a little something for themselves while shopping for others.
· 20% of consumers say their most expensive gift purchase will fall in the electronics and gadgets category with an average cost of $316.
· Gift Cards remain the most popular item consumers will give this holiday season (53%). Other popular items on gift lists include clothing/accessories (50%) toys and games (43%) electronics/gadgets (34%) books or magazines (31%) music (29%) and cash (26%).
· Most consumers will look for ways to stretch their holiday dollars (84%), particularly women (90%) compared to men (77%). The most popular ways they will do so are:
Savings Strategy | Women | Men |
Shop for clearance or sale merchandise | 77% | 55% |
Clipping coupons | 67% | 46% |
Buying only for people on their list | 53% | 43% |
Re-gifting | 16% | 9% |
