Impact of inflation on end-of-year holiday shopping - Statistics & Facts

The holiday season has conventionally been a time of significance to retailers. The compounding effects of national holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as a successive series of shopping festivals – Singles’ Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday – have seen higher sales centered around the end-of-year period, compared to the other quarters of the year. Unfortunately, the bright mood has been dampened by the dark cloud of inflation. Driven by multiple factors, the global rate of inflation was estimated at roughly seven percent in 2023, marking a major spike in the last decade. In a survey conducted in August 2022, nearly a third of consumers worldwide cited galloping inflation as their prime concern for the holiday season.

Consumers are voicing their concerns

In 2023, nearly half of consumers in the United States cited price as their primary consideration when making shopping decisions during the holiday season, far surpassing other factors such as quality and uniqueness. In the previous year, many coped with higher prices by investing more time in price comparison and buying only discounted items, as well as testing out other price-reducing strategies such as using coupons and switching to store brands. In addition, a survey conducted in 2023 revealed that seven in 10 consumers worldwide planned to scale back on gift-giving to extended family and friends, and to pare down on items, such as decorative lights, which would increase utility costs. This attitude of seasonal austerity was adopted to its extreme by four in 10 shoppers in the United Kingdom, who stated that they would cut all expenses related to Black Friday and Christmas spending due to the increased cost of living in 2022.

Are consumers actually tightening their purse strings?

Despite the prevailing somber mood, it seems that holiday season spending has not actually suffered a significant downturn. In fact, the figures are looking up. In the U.S., online Black Friday spending hit a record 9.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, while sales for Cyber Monday are expected to grow by around five percent, hitting a new high of approximately 12 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. Over in Europe, Christmas spending had also generally increased over the past five years, and is predicted to grow further, if only slightly, in 2023.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Mar 19, 2024

Key insights

Holiday retail sales in the U.S. in 2023
957.3bn USD
Share of consumers in the UK who expect inflation to have a major impact on their holiday shopping in 2022
34%
Most important problem facing the world as of October 2023
Inflation
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Per capita spending on Christmas gifts in Germany from 2011 to 2023

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Per capita spending on Christmas gifts in Germany 2011-2023

Online and store-based retail sales during Christmas season in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2017 to 2023 (in billion GBP)

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Online and offline retail sales during Christmas in the UK 2017-2023

Inflation rate of the Christmas Price Index in the United States from 1992 to 2023

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U.S. Christmas Price Index: annual inflation 1992-2023

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Christmas season shopping in the U.S.
Christmas season shopping in the U.S.
Holiday season e-commerce in the United States
Holiday season e-commerce in the United States
Christmas shopping in the United Kingdom (UK)
Christmas shopping in the United Kingdom (UK)
Retail market worldwide
Retail market worldwide
Inflation worldwide
Inflation worldwide

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