U.S. consumers were in the mood to spend this holiday season, with shoppers projected to have spent more than $980 billion on gifts, food, decorations and other items in November and December of last year.
According to the National Retail Federation, the 2024 holiday shopping season witnessed a significant surge in consumer spending, with Americans shelling out a record $989 billion, a 3.8% increase from the previous year.
What led to this increase? The retail federation attributed it to factors such as job gains and wage increases.
Online shopping played a pivotal role in this growth, with e-commerce sales rising by 6.7% compared to 2023, according to numbers from Mastercard’s Holiday Spending Pulse.
What did consumers buy during this most recent holiday season?
- Gifts: The average expenditure on gifts was $677, reflecting a 3.4% increase from $654 in 2023, according to the Conference Board.
- Non-Gift Items: Spending on non-gift items, including food, decorations and wrapping paper, saw a 17% rise, averaging $387, according to the Conference Board.
The top-selling products during this holiday season included a range of items, according to research from IGN on Black Friday shopping last year:
- Electronics: Consumers spent big on AirPods 4, Samsung TVs and Amazon’s Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick 4K.
- Toys: Popular choices included Barbie dolls and Play-Doh sets.
- Home Appliances: Items like the Bissell Little Green Vacuum and Shark vacuums were among the top sellers.
- Beauty and Skincare: Products such as Medicube’s Collagen Jelly Cream were popular choices on Black Friday of last year.
Maybe in part because of consumers’ record-breaking spending, Americans took on more consumer debt during the holiday season. About 36% of consumers took on debt for holiday purchases, with an average debt of $1,181, up from $1,028 in 2023, according to a report from LendingTree.
This is all good news for U.S. retailers who rely so heavily on the holiday shopping season. It’s also an indication that U.S. consumers are recovering from the negative impacts of higher interest rates and inflation and are ready to spend again.
