Millennial and Gen-Z shoppers to up spending in Holiday 2018

By

Robin Driver

Published
Nov 22, 2018

According to a holiday shopping report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insight & Analytics on Wednesday, young adult shoppers are the US consumers most likely to increase their spending over the festive season this year.

 
77% of all those surveyed said that they were planning to spend the same as usual or more over the 2018 holiday period. However, a larger proportion of younger consumers were found to be planning to spend more than usual, with 43% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying that they intended to do so, along with 38% of 25 to 34-year-olds.
 
By contrast, only 9% of those 65 and over said that they planned to spend more.

“This holiday season retailers will experience the growing purchasing power of Gen Z and millennials,” said NRF CEO Matthew Shay in a release. “Whether they are still in college or raising children, these consumer groups embrace the tradition of prior generations and take full advantage of Thanksgiving weekend deals both online and in stores.”
 
Clothing and accessories proved to be the most popular gift idea, with 59% of surveyed shoppers saying that they were planning to buy something from the category. Gift cards (56%), toys (41%), and entertainment products such as books, movies and music (40%) also ranked highly.
 
The study also found that researching purchases with smartphones and tablets is an increasingly important part of the holiday shopping process for many consumers, with 50% of surveyed shoppers who own these kinds of devices saying that they will be using them for this purpose.

As for payment methods, credit cards are still the most popular way to make holiday purchases, with 42% of those surveyed stating that they planned to use theirs. Debit cards took second place with 39%, while cash and checks were mentioned by 17% and 2% of shoppers, respectively.
 
Emerging payment methods have also gained new converts: 44% of consumers said that they would be using them, with PayPal proving to be by far the most popular, mentioned by 35% of holiday shoppers. Next in line is Apple Pay at 8%, Samsung Pay and Google Wallet, both at 5%, and Venmo with 4%.

The study, conducted by the NRF and Prosper from October 29 to November 7, 2018, surveyed 7,516 US consumers about their holiday shopping intentions.