Holiday Sales Predicted to Hit $586 Billion
October 17, 2012
According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2012 Holiday forecast, sales are expected to increase 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion this year.
The survey, conducted by BIGinsight, also predicts that the average holiday shopper will spend $749.51 on gifts, décor, greeting cards and more, up slightly from the $740.57 spent last year.
According to the survey, the biggest portion of shoppers’ budgets this year will go towards gifts for family members, with the average person planning to spend $421.82. Additionally, people will spend $75.13 on friends, $23.48 on co-workers and $28.13 on others, such as pets and community members. Consumers also will spend on food and candy ($100.76), greeting cards ($28.66) and flowers ($19.55.) When it comes to decorations, the average person will spend $51.99, up from $49.15 last year and the most in the survey’s history. Total spending on holiday décor will reach $6.9 billion.
About half of respondents (52.3 percent) said that the state of the U.S. economy would affect their spending plans, down from 62.2 last year.
Four in 10 (41.4 percent) of Americans said they will begin holiday shopping before Halloween, with 22.1 percent saying they will begin in October, up from 20.3 percent last year.
More than half (51.8 percent) will shop online for gifts and other items this holiday season, up from 46.7 percent last year. Shop.org, NRF’s digital division, is forecasting online holiday sales will grow 12 percent to as much as $96 billion.
