20+ Holiday Spending Statistics for 2026

The holiday season is a joyful period, an opportunity to reunite with friends and family, to enjoy the company of loved ones as you count your blessings.

You’ll count extra blessings if you make your living in retail sales. For retail, similarly to Valentine's Day, the holidays are the prime business season. Forget the spirit of Christmas - the spirit of spending is where the money is.

That’s why it’s important for retailers to understand the psychology behind the decisions people make during this period.

This page is a comprehensive compendium, a guide to the most important holiday spending statistics, all in one place. We focused mainly on winter holidays, but you will see that we’ve briefly touched on other American holidays like Thanksgiving and Halloween as well.

Key Holiday Spending Statistics for 2026 - Editor's Choice

• 54% of consumers started shopping for holidays in October 2025.
• American households spent an average of $1,846 on holiday spending in 2025.
• US consumers are projected to spend $268 billion in online stores during the 2025–2026 holiday season.
• 24% of consumers utilize Generative AI and ChatGPT for discovering and researching products.
• 74% of consumers report they will engage in some sort of charitable activity.

US holiday retail sales for the 2025–2026 season are projected to total around $1.67 trillion.

(Deloitte)

The projections by Deloitte for the November 2025–January 2026 holiday season show that retail sales are expected to rise between 3.5% and 4.8% compared to last year, when the sales totaled $1.59 trillion.

American households spent an average of $1,846 on holiday spending during the 2025 Christmas season.

(Deloitte, PWC)

The latest data has shown that Americans spent 4.2% more on last year's holiday season.

US consumers are expected to spend an average of more than $1,120 on holiday gifts in the 2025–2026 season.

(Statista)

In 2024, it was the first time in history that the average spending on gifts reached a thousand dollars.

Some 54% of Americans started shopping for holidays in October 2025.

(Statista)

Each year the holiday seasons are a source of stress for many. According to recent data, “festive stress” made 34% of Americans describe the holiday seasons as “frantic.”

A lot of the stress comes from starting Christmas shopping too late—9% started looking for presents for their loved ones in December 2025, but in general, the trend shifted much more to the other side of the spectrum, with 6% more consumers starting their shopping in October and November compared to the year before.

Americans are projected to spend $268 billion in online stores during the holiday season of 2025–2026.

(Adobe)

The year-over-year spending on online holiday shopping is expected to increase by 11.2% compared to 2024, with the biggest single shopping day being Cyber Monday, with projected sales worth $14.8 billion.

24% of consumers utilized AI tools for discovering and researching products in 2025.

(PMG) 

The artificial intelligence boom is quickly being recognized in the retail market, with more and more people using AI assistance to research products. Recent surveys found that 14% of all consumers used the help of AI to build their 2025 holiday shopping lists.

83% of consumers planned to shop for holidays during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend in 2025.

(Deloitte)

The number was slightly higher than the previous holiday season, and the spending per customer increased.

In 2025, December 1 was the biggest sales day in both retail and online spaces.

(PMG)

Cyber Monday has begun to dominate the holiday sales space, with consumers spending $17.2 million every minute during peak hours (8-10 PM) in 2025.

The top-selling Christmas gifts in 2025 were clothing and accessories, with 56% of people planning to give them to their loved ones.

(eMarketer)

Gift cards were a close second, purchased by 46% of consumers. While it can be considered a lazy gift, a gift card can be a safe bet for people you don’t know all that well. Toys for the little ones accounted for 38% of presents.

58% of consumers were expected to do shopping on their mobile devices in the 2025 holiday season.

(Adobe)

Groceries led the way, with 71.4% share of mobile online sales during last year's holiday season.

Holiday shoppers are very receptive to promotional offers—85% of them were influenced by holiday discounts and other promotions in 2025.

(PMG)

The promotional offers that proved most effective in stimulating holiday spending were straight price discounts, with the "Up to 50% Off" discount being the most popular among consumers.

Christmas is a time of giving to others: 74% of consumers reported that they planned to engage in some sort of charitable activity in 2025.

(Enthuse)

The latest data from Enthuse shows that 51% of people were more likely to give at Christmas compared to any other day of the year. Younger generations were also more inclined to give, especially millennials under 42. Some 64% of those surveyed also stated that they planned on donating items instead of money.

Around 86% of consumers planned to buy a gift for themselves in 2025.

(Deloitte)

While it is important to give something back to those who are less fortunate, there’s nothing wrong with treating ourselves to a gift or two after a year of hard work.

In a 2012 survey, 37% of respondents said they would be buying themselves a present. By 2025, that number more than doubled.

People from low-income households prefer shopping in physical stores during the holiday season compared to people with middle and high annual incomes.

(Deloitte)

When asked whether they preferred online or physical stores in 2025, 44% of people from low-income homes said they preferred brick-and-mortar stores, while 32% of high and medium-income consumers said the same.

It’s easy to predict that people with lower incomes are more likely to put higher emphasis on quality and price when doing their holiday shopping.

61% of consumers discovered holiday gift ideas on TikTok in 2025.

(MGH )

TikTok is dominating the social media platform space when it comes to product discovery rates. Last year, the majority of consumers, or 48%, were looking for food and beverage gifts on the platform.

National Halloween spending reached $12.4 billion in 2025.

(National Retail Federation)

The latest data indicates that 2025 spending on Halloween was a record high, with the average American spending $112 on this holiday. Most consumers spent money on candy, decorations, and costumes.

Americans eat more than 150 million hotdogs on Independence Day.

(WalletHub)

Independence Day is one of the most important and beloved holidays for Americans. Barbecues, fireworks, hot dogs, beer—all seasoned with pride for the red, white, and blue in the sweetest part of summer.

According to a study conducted before the big day, Americans were forecast to spend $9.2 billion on food and drink on the 4th of July, 2025, with $1.8 billion spent on beer and wine alone.

Americans spent more than $26.4 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2026.

(National Retail Federation)

54% of consumers planned to celebrate the holiday, with the average spending per person participating being $192.60, and the majority of gift spending going to candy products.

Americans who celebrated Easter spent $184.22 on average for this holiday in 2026.

(National Retail Federation)

The collective spending on Easter in the United States reached $23.5 billion in 2026, up from the previous year.

28% of shoppers in the US spent less than $50 in shopping for New Year's Eve 2025.

(Numerator)

In contrast, some 38% spent more than $100 for the 2026 countdown.

Only 9% of consumers planned to purchase gifts for New Year's Eve 2025.

(Numerator)

The majority of spending for the eve of welcoming 2026 was on food, with 75% of consumers purchasing snacks and other food items, and alcohol with 55%.

Retailers expected an average return rate of 17.8% for the 2025 holiday season.

(Appriss Retail)

This returns management crisis prompted 60% of major retailers to implement restocking fees for mail-in returns last year.

35% of top-tier retailers utilized Generative AI to create holiday marketing campaigns in 2025.

(Salesforce)

The integration of AI for hyper-personalization resulted in a 15% higher conversion rate compared to traditional audience segmentation.