Consumers to spend second-highest amount on record, according to NRF holiday survey

Consumers plan to spend $890.49 per person on average this year on holiday gifts, food, decorations and other seasonal items, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. The amount is the second-highest in the survey’s 23-year history and falls only 1.3% less than last year’s record of $901.99.

“Time and again, Americans prioritize spending on loved ones for holidays despite economic uncertainty,” NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen said. “With more consumers planning to seek out sale events this year, retailers are prepared to deliver on deals and value to ensure consumers have everything they need to make the holiday special.”

Nearly all U.S. adults (91%) plan to celebrate winter holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa this year, in line with recent years.

Out of the total, $627.93 will go to gifts for family and friends. The remaining $262.56 will be used on seasonal items like food or candy, decorations and greeting cards.

Early shopping remains popular, with 42% of shoppers planning to begin browsing and buying for the holiday season before November. The leading reasons they shop early are to spread out their budget (54%) or to avoid the stress of last-minute shopping (41%). Even with the early start, the majority (60%) anticipate they will finish shopping in December.

Tariffs remain top of mind for most holiday shoppers, with 85% anticipating higher prices because of tariffs. Nearly two-thirds (63%) plan to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to do most of their holiday shopping, up from 59% last year.

“Despite consumers’ economic concerns, the winter holidays remain an important occasion to celebrate with loved ones,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “This is particularly true for those families with children who are expected to increase their gift budgets by more than $30 on average.”

As with other years, consumers plan to shop across numerous destinations this holiday season. Online continues to be the top holiday shopping destination, with 55% planning to make purchases digitally. That is followed by grocery stores (46%), department stores (44%) and discount stores (42%).

According to the survey, the top gifts consumers would like to receive include gift cards (50%), clothing or accessories (46%), books and other media (27%), personal care or beauty items (23%) and electronics (22%).

The survey asked 8,247 adult consumers about their holiday shopping plans. It was conducted Oct. 1-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.