Holiday & Consumer Trends News

Working hard to support the family day in and day out, mom will be more than recognized for her devotion this Mother’s Day. According to NRF’s Mother’s Day spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, consumers will spend an average of $168.94 on mom, up 11 percent from last year’s $152.52. Total spending is expected to reach $20.7 billion.

Americans will celebrate Easter in style and on budget this year according to NRF’s Easter Spending Survey conducted by BIGinsight. Keeping cost and their shopping list in mind, the average person celebrating Easter will spend approximately $145.13 on candy, decor, apparel and food, flat with last year’s $145.28. Total spending will reach an estimated $17.2 billion.

he year’s biggest Irish holiday falls on a Sunday this year, but that won’t stop millions of Americans from celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in fun fashion. According to NRF’s St. Patrick’s Day Spending Survey conducted by BIGinsight, the average person will spend $35.27 on green attire, decor for their home and office, and festive food and drinks. Total spending is expected to grow to $4.7 billion.

A change in federal tax law that decreased the take-home pay of many working Americans is impacting household budgets. According to NRF’s 2013 Tax Returns Survey conducted by BIGinsight, nearly three-quarters (73.3%) of those polled say their spending plans are taking a hit.

Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day but consumers aren’t quite ready to shell out the big bucks for their loved ones as much as they were last year. The 2013 Valentine’s Day spending survey conducted by BIGinsight shows only a slight increase in expected sales this year with the average person planning to spend $130.97 on candy, cards, gifts and more, up from $126.03 last year. Total spending will reach $18.6 billion.*

Three-thousand miles apart, two teams are preparing for the biggest game of the year, along with the millions of fans who will be cheering them on. According to a new survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a division of the National Retail Federation, conducted by BIGinsight, more than 179.1 million people will watch the game Sunday, February 3, the most in the survey’s nine-year history and up from an estimated 172.5 million last year.

According to NRF’s latest holiday survey conducted by BIGinsight, the average person has completed 56.5 percent of their shopping, up from the 46.5 percent this time last year and the highest percentage in the survey’s 10-year history.

The New England Patriots and the Washington Redskins weren’t the only winners this Thanksgiving Day as more than 35 million Americans visited retailers’ stores and websites Thursday – up from 29 million last year – scoring deals on everything from hot electronic items to cashmere sweaters and toys. According to a National Retail Federation survey conducted by BIGinsight over the weekend, traffic and spending grew over the entire weekend*.

Despite record levels of online spending over the Black Friday weekend, savvy shoppers still have plenty of appetite for one-day only deals that retailers have lined up for Cyber Monday, as 129.2 million shoppers say they’ll head to retailers’ websites on Cyber Monday.

Even the post-turkey coma couldn’t keep a good shopper down last night as millions of people across the country lined the sidewalks late Thursday night and by midnight on Black Friday to stock up on discounted toys, laptops, tablets, apparel, and more.

Children’s wish lists this holiday season are full of the latest gadgets such as Apple iPads and the Nintendo Wii U, but there’s still demand for some classic gifts like LEGOs, dolls and toy cars according to NRF’s 2012 Top Toys survey conducted by BIGinsight.

According to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, up to 147 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a slight decrease from the 152 million who planned to do so last year.

With retailers providing increasingly creative ways for gift cards to be personalized and delivered, NRF’s 2012 holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight shows that 81.1 percent of shoppers will purchase at least one gift card and will spend an average of $156.86 on gift cards, the highest amount in the survey’s 10-year history.

According to the National Retail Federation’s holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, 52.8 percent of Americans have already started their holiday shopping, up from 51.4 percent last year.

Consumers are prepared for a holly, jolly holiday season, though it’s evident most will take a conservative approach with their gift-giving budgets. According to NRF’s holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, the average holiday shopper will spend $749.51 on gifts, décor, greeting cards and more, up slightly from the $740.57 they actually spent last year.

This Halloween, trick-or-treaters, party-goers and pampered pets will be dressing up in traditional spooky style with pumpkin, princess, witch and vampire costumes taking the top spots in NRF’s 2012 Top Costumes survey conducted by BIGinsight.

A record 170 million people plan to celebrate Halloween this year, according to NRF’s 2012 Halloween consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight. Seven in 10 Americans (71.5%) will get into the haunting Halloween mood, up from 68.6 percent last year and the most in NRF’s 10-year survey history. Consumers are expecting to spend more too; the average person will spend $79.82 on decorations, costumes and candy, up from $72.31 last year, with total Halloween spending expected to reach $8.0 billion.*