Holiday Spending Proves Better Than Some Expected

Retailers may be entering 2017 with a lasting bout of holiday cheer.

Chain Store Age reported that the initial data coming out about retail spending shows positive trends that “bode well” for retailers. The data shows that consumers opened up their purses for the latest holiday season, spending 16 percent more this year than last, with that tally coming from the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) Post-Holiday Shopping Survey.

That translates to an average $711 spent on gifts and other holiday items, as compared to $611 last year. And it represents a full 4 percent more than had been initially intended. The intentions had been measured by the ICSC’s Holiday Shopping Intentions Survey, which was conducted in Oct. 2016. Total holiday spending, which moves beyond gifts and encompasses dining, movies and other entertainment expenditures, topped $897.

As for payments, slightly more than half of that spending took place during the last few days headed into Christmas, which the site noted meant that retailers needed to “keep pace with technology” in order to dovetail with the spending patterns and also give consumers more purchasing options. Demographically speaking, Generation X spent an average of $1,000, while baby boomers spent $875.