33% of holiday shoppers plan to spend less this year: Bankrate

Bankrate’s recent holiday report indicates how inflation and other macroeconomic factors are putting pressure on consumers’ wallets this season.

“It seems that holiday shoppers will be more frugal this year, as multiple years of high inflation and high interest rates have taken a considerable toll,” Ted Rossman, Bankrate senior industry analyst, said in a statement.

Concern over pricing has holiday shoppers hesitant, yet still planning to spend. Of the 2,300 surveyed by Bankrate, 1,789 responded planning to shop for the holidays this year.

And that shopping may be starting earlier. Almost half of all those surveyed by Bankrate said they would start shopping for the holidays by Halloween.

For the past several years, retailers, including Walmart, Target, Amazon and Best Buy have rolled out October sales events for the holiday season. Amazon last month announced that its big holiday promotion will be back for Prime members this October.

“While some people scoff that the holiday shopping season seems to start earlier every year, getting off to an early start gives you more time to comparison shop for the best deals and spread out the impact of your purchases,” Rossman said.

E-commerce will be a key channel this season, with 42% of respondents saying most of their holiday purchases would be done online, compared to 23% of shoppers who intend to do most of their holiday shopping in stores, according to Bankrate.

Retail Dive