On average, U.S. consumers anticipate doing nearly 40 percent of their 2017 holiday shopping online, up from one-third just two years ago, according to The NPD Group. According to NPD’s 2017 Holiday Purchase Intentions Survey, consumers who will be holiday shopping online are planning to spend roughly 70 percent more than their in-store-only counterparts. Online shoppers anticipate spending an average of $793 this holiday season and those who will only shop in brick-and-mortar stores plan to spend an average of $467.
NPD’s Checkout TrackingSM and Checkout Tracking E-Commerce information shows that online purchase frequency of general merchandise categories during the holiday season has increased, while in-store spending occasions have declined. During the fourth quarter of 2016, consumer e-commerce purchase frequency increased 12 percent to an average of more than six online orders, compared to brick-and-mortar stores, where consumers made an average of 18 purchases, a 4 percent decline from the prior year.
Almost three-quarters of holiday consumers plan to do some of their holiday shopping online this year, with even higher likelihood among Millennials and Gen X. Topping the list of anticipated holiday shopping destinations were online-only sites, like Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy, noted by 66 percent of consumers in this year’s Holiday Purchase Intentions survey. Mass merchants/discount stores, and their websites, were the second most popular planned destination, followed by national chains, and department stores.
