Consumers are ready to spend for the holidays, despite inflation: report

The holidays are around the corner, and you know what that means…’tis the season for spending—and a new report says we’ll be buying more than last year.

Per Mastercard’s SpendingPulse report, US holiday spending between November 1 and December 24 is predicted to be up 3.7% compared to the same period in 2022.

But it’s not like inflation has had no impact on consumer spend at all. For context, the same report last year predicted consumers would spend 7.1% more than in 2021.

Anyway, back to 2023. Year over year e-commerce purchases are estimated to grow 6.7%, while in-store purchases should be up 2.9%.

Electronics sales will see a 6% uptick, followed by restaurant spending (5.4%) and groceries (3.9%), while apparel (1%) and jewelry (-0.3%) will remain relatively flat.

The report also noted that the estimates reflect the current “labor market, household savings, and consumer access to credit,” and that inflation and interest rates could play a role as well.

“While the consumer of holidays past may have been a consumer trying to find footing in a rapidly shifting economy, the consumer of holidays present has taken their power back,” Michelle Meyer, US chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute, said in a statement.