Younger Americans are spending more on holiday gifts. Here's why that matters

The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.

It’s almost Halloween, which means that it’s more or less already the holiday season. So in the latest wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker, we asked Americans whether they’d started looking for gifts. 

A quarter of all Americans say they’ve already started their holiday shopping, though most say they’ll start in November (and one in ten say they’ll figure it out in December). But we found something interesting along the way. 

Younger Americans are more likely to have started shopping for the holidays, and know where they’re going to look for gifts. But that’s not all – for the second year in a row, they’re actually (and by a considerable margin) the only age group planning to spend more this holiday season than last year.

Half (53%) of 18- to 34-year-olds said they plan to spend more than last year this holiday season. In comparison, 29% of 35- to 54-year-olds, and just 18% of those over 55, intend do the same. 

It’s a distribution that’s almost unchanged from 2023 — with the exception of Millennials and Gen X, who have scaled back somewhat (from 39% last year to 29% this year).

The obvious question is: why? 

The Tracker suggests a few possible explanations. First: Some older Americans may be indecisive or unsure about where to shop. When asked, 33% of 18- to 34-year-olds strongly agreed that they know exactly where to shop at this holiday season, in comparison to 22% of those aged 35 to 54, and just 12% of those over 55. (As Ipsos has repeatedly noted, Boomers continue to represent a considerable share of the nation’s spending power — meaning this could be an untapped opportunity for retailers). 

Another potential explanation: that more older Americans have opted out of holiday shopping altogether. 17% of Americans aged 55+ said they “do not do any holiday shopping,” compared with 9% of 35- to 54-year-olds and 7% of 18- to 34-year-olds. 

But whatever the cause may be, retailers should take note. 

For one thing, younger shoppers are leading the shift toward an earlier shopping season — which “reflects a growing desire for early deals, reduced stress, and better inventory selection,” says Charlene Richey, SVP Ipsos Channel Performance.  

For another thing, many younger Americans are among the two-thirds (67%) of Americans say they plan to shop mostly online this holiday season. While the generational splits aren’t too dramatic, a longer-term shift towards ecommerce certainly matters for brick-and-mortar retailers. 

What also matters for brick-and-mortar is that while a plurality (67%) of younger Americans say it’s important to support locally-owned stores around the holidays, they’re not as unanimous in their agreement as older ones (79% of 55+). 

Retailers have recognized and adapted to the earlier holiday shopping season, Richey says, by “strategically expanding their holiday shopping season beyond the traditional Black Friday timeframe. This approach not only caters to early shoppers but also helps retailers spread out demand, manage inventory more efficiently, and capture consumer attention in an increasingly competitive market."

But that’s just scratching the surface of younger shoppers’ idiosyncrasies, from trips to the mall to reliance on buy now, pay later (BNPL) and good old fashioned credit cards. 

"Retailers will need to adapt to each of these shifts,” Richey says, “if younger shoppers continue to drive a larger share of their sales." 

More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:

People want more affordable housing where they live

Everyone is concerned about data privacy, but the affluent are the most concerned

People still want to live in the suburbs

More plan to shop only online, but also say it’s important to shop local

The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?