A mall decorated for the holidays. The top retailers for this season are Amazon, Walmart and Target, according to a new study. satura86 via Getty Images
By Tatiana Walk-Morris
Source: www.retaildive.com, October 2023

Nearly half of young shoppers said they’ll do their holiday shopping at malls as consumers plan to spend less on gifts.

Dive Brief:

  • Nearly half of Gen Z consumers (49.6%) plan to do their holiday shopping at malls, a higher proportion than the 40.8% average, according to JLL’s Holiday Shopping Survey Report 2023.
  • Consumers plan to spend $530 on gifts alone this year, down from $612 last year, according to the report. JLL’s research also found that the top three retailers for holiday shoppers are Amazon (64.7%), Walmart (47.6%) and Target (41.8%).
  • Among the top social media platforms for gift inspiration are Facebook (35.8%), Instagram (32.7%), YouTube (24.1%), TikTok (23.4%) and Pinterest (16.2%). While shoppers aged 18 to 29 are turning to Instagram (46.5%) and TikTok (38.5%), millennials and Gen X shoppers are relying on Facebook and Instagram, per the report.

Dive Insight:

With the holiday season right around the corner, very few respondents to the JLL Holiday Shopping Survey are interested in alternative off-price, department and e-commerce retailers for their gift purchases. Less than 10% of survey respondents named Macy’s, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Costco, eBay, J.C. Penney and T.J. Maxx as one of their top three retail destinations for gift shopping this holiday season, according to the report.

As Amazon dominates as the top holiday retailer choice, other major retailers are trying to entice shoppers with deals. While Amazon will host its fall Prime member sale between Oct. 10 and Oct. 12, Walmart, Target and Best Buy also unveiled their holiday sales this month.

The JLL report also highlighted the impact inflation may have on consumers’ finances this holiday season. Though the Consumer Price Index has calmed to about 3.7% above 2022 levels, it has increased more than 21% since 2019.

So far, consumer spending plans vary based on income. Shoppers who earn more than $150,000 anticipate spending $969 on gifts, higher than the $550 gift budget for consumers earning between $50,000 and $150,000. For shoppers earning less than $50,000, their budget for holiday gifts will be about $367 this year, JLL found.

Despite shoppers feeling the financial squeeze of inflation, other reports found that consumer spending might rise slightly this holiday season. A recent Deloitte report projected that retail sales will see a bump between 3.5% and 4.6% from last year. Mastercard also introduced a report indicating that holiday spending overall will rise 3.7% year over year.