The holidays are right around the corner, with some of them already in full swing (Happy Hanukkah, y’all!), and we’re already getting hit hard with shopping frenzies and festivities. Between making time for friends and family, shopping for presents, and making plans that fit your schedule, it’s no surprise to anyone that the end of the year gets crazy as hell—and hey, extra kudos to all of our college kids out there trying to survive finals week, too!
In the midst of all this holiday madness, we thought it’d be fun to share some neat stats about the shopping season. Sure, they’re numbers and a lot of you might find it boring, but it’s at least kind of interesting to see how you stack up against other shoppers…right? Right? …Eh, whatever. On to the numbers!
How We Shop
So while a lot of you may think the mall has been dead and in its grave for years, it turns out that our Internet overlords haven’t fully taken over yet. More than half of holiday shoppers (54%) will shop both online and in-store, with about a third of them (30%) shopping exclusively at the store. But it does kind of make sense if you think about it because nothing beats seeing something in person and knowing that’s exactly what you want to get someone. And for all of the last-minute shoppers out there, a 20-minute drive to the mall is way more convenient.
When people do decide to shop online, shoppers plan to use mobile devices the most, over computers, or a mixture of both. No surprise there, since we’re always on our phones anyway—but hey, the next time someone makes a smart comment about your phone, just say you’re Christmas shopping and watch their own holiday worries set in. And with over half of our participants saying they start their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, you’ll have an excuse to be on your phone for a solid month and a half!
The Gifts That Keep On Giving
There’s nothing quite like finding the perfect, unique gift for a loved one and watching their face light up when they open it on Christmas day—but finding the perfect gag gift comes at a very close second! From inside jokes to full-on pranks, there are plenty of ways to have someone open a gift and end up in tears of laughter. And, with over half of holiday shoppers (56%) buying gag gifts for family or office exchanges, we’re happy to report that this hilarious trend isn’t going away any time soon—and the same goes for ugly Christmas sweater parties! In fact, 92% of shoppers report spending between $20-50 on a holiday-themed ugly sweater.
And if you want to be super outrageous this Christmas, then look no further than Spencer’s Workshop wide selection of ugly Christmas sweaters including styles that are sure to land you on Santa’s naughty list. Because is it even Christmas if the night doesn’t end in laughter and at least one offended relative?!
The Holidays Cost HOW MUCH?!
Sigh. Look, we don’t want to talk about this either—our wallets are already crying and we’re barely a week into December. But we decided to get candid with shoppers to ask about their jolly ole’ budgets, and surprisingly enough they decided to tell us.
To literally no one’s surprise, presents end up costing the most during the holidays, with 81% reporting spending the most cash on gifts for others. About one-third of shoppers plan on spending over $500 on gifts this year—and for some of us (since only about 47% of people try to set a limit on holiday spending), it just happens that way anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
November? Pre-Christmas.
We always joke that it feels like the holidays come early every year, with stores starting even before Halloween. Well, one-quarter of people feel SO festive they admit to putting up their holiday decorations before Thanksgiving (we’re looking at you, Mom). Seriously, we know this isn’t a joke to some of y’all; we have a coworker who put up their Christmas tree on Halloween, so we get it.
And despite the chaos (and expense) of this time of year, people still somehow make the time for what matters most: family and friends. As far as holiday plans, 79% plan to host a holiday celebration this year—and honestly? Props to you guys because we can barely get our trees up in time. When it comes to seeing loved ones, 86% of people plan to travel so they can enjoy the holidays together, and 1/3 of those that are traveling will spend more than $100 to ensure they spend time with family—now THAT is true love.
But for real, we get that the end of the year is a wild time of year for everyone. So this is just a reminder that, no matter how much you spend, who you’re seeing, or how you’re celebrating, the important thing is that you spend your time on what means the most to you. And if you’re looking for the perfect gifts for your hectic family, hilarious friends, or your boo who gets you the most, you know Spencer’s is here to help make this busy time of year just a liiiittle bit easier to manage.
