The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts in a recent report that holiday spending will increase 4.9% over last year, totaling $832.3 billion. Overall, shoppers anticipate spending an average of $683, $496 of which will go toward gifts and $187 on other holiday-related purchases, per the report.
According to the report, 90% of holiday shoppers expect to make purchases in-store and 97% of them will buy goods online from retailers with physical stores. About 63% of holiday shoppers will begin buying before Thanksgiving, and 49% of shoppers plan to complete their holiday shopping within the last ten days before Christmas, the report found.
About 70% of baby boomers, 61% of GenXers and 59% of Millennials plan on buying gift cards. Meanwhile, 55% of shoppers said they plan to purchase apparel and footwear, and 48% said they expected to buy games and toys, according to the report… RetailDIVE