Consumer willingness rises: Americans' holiday gift purchase budget exceeds $1,000 for the first time

According to a CNBC poll, Americans plan to spend an average of $1,004 on gifts during the winter holidays, up 13% from last year and the highest amount since 2018.

Of the 800 people surveyed, 15% said they plan to increase holiday spending compared to a year ago, compared with 11% a year ago, and 35% plan to save on gifts, compared with 39% last year.

The survey pointed out that consumers are more willing to spend at Christmas and, in most cases, are more willing to go to stores to shop.

The survey results also pointed out that consumers are anxious about inflation, supply chain issues and other negative economic news. For example, respondents who decided to increase their holiday budgets did so partly because they had more money (a third of respondents), partly because they needed to give gifts to more people (a quarter of respondents), and partly because of price increases (16%).

Reasons for deciding to spend less than last year were worsening economic conditions (25% of respondents); rising prices or utility bills (21%) and a desire to save money (17%).

Additionally, 36% of respondents said they started holiday shopping earlier than usual due to concerns about not receiving gifts in time.

Half of Americans surveyed said they intend to buy most or all of their gifts online (down 5 percentage points from last year, but up 5 percentage points from pre-season 2019). The most popular online retailer in the U.S. remains Amazon (35%), followed by Etsy and local retailers (7%), then Walmart (5%).

Editor ✎ Xiao Zhu/

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