Consumers will take advantage of Thanksgiving weekend deals—especially millennials and members of Gen Z—online and in stores, according to a new consumer sentiment survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
While 77 percent of all consumers surveyed said they would spend the same or more this year, 43 percent of young adults ages 18 to 24 and 38 percent of those 25 to 34 said they would spend more. Only 9 percent of those 65 and older are planning to spend more.
The survey found that 50 percent of consumers who own smartphones or tablets said they would use them to research their holiday purchases.
Top gifts continue to be clothing and accessories, expected to be purchased by 59 percent of consumers, gift cards (56 percent), toys (41 percent) and books/music/movies (40 percent).
Spending on gift cards is on the rise and is expected to reach $29.9 billion, up from last year’s estimated $27.6 billion. Holiday shoppers plan to purchase an average of four gift cards worth approximately $49 each. The most popular gift cards include those for restaurants (purchased by 36 percent of buyers), department stores (32 percent), coffee shops (22 percent) and entertainment (17 percent).
For kids’ toys, Barbie and LEGO tops the list of must-have toys, according to the NRF, followed by other dolls and L.O.L. Surprise dolls. Other hot toys include LEGOs, American Girl, Hatchimals, Disney Princess, Hot Wheels, Marvel action figures/toys, Paw Patrol, Nerf, and gaming systems like the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.
The survey, which asked 7,516 consumers about holiday shopping plans, was conducted Oct. 29 to Nov. 7 has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
