A person walks by with a handful of grocery bags as Black Friday sales begin at the Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass in Simpsonville, Kentucky on November 26, 2021.
Jon Cherry | Reuters
When Americans were shopping for gifts over the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, the discovery of the Omicron variant made headlines and prompted health officials to take action.
National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay said Tuesday that this holiday season the coronavirus strain could shake up spending patterns and channel more dollars into electronics, toys, clothing and other items instead of holidays and movie tickets.
“We unfortunately know that if the variants had a real impact on the economy, the goods side of the economy actually benefited because people were changing their behavior away from the experiential side of the economy and investing more time and money on the goods side Economy, “he said when he called reporters.
Christmas sales are expected to hit an all-time high of $ 843.4 billion to $ 859 billion in November and December, which is 8.5% to 10.5% growth this year, according to the National Retail Federation. The retail group confirmed its rosy forecast for the Christmas season on Tuesday.
Experience-based gifts – like travel vouchers, restaurant gift cards, and spa days – are expected to make a comeback this year as more Americans feel comfortable getting out.
According to a survey conducted by consulting firm Accenture of around 1,500 US consumers in August, about 43% of consumers said they plan to settle for experiences and service gifts this holiday season. The trend was more pronounced among the younger generations: 53% of Millennials and 50% of Generation Z said they were spending money on experiences, the survey found.
Shay said the retail group is confident about consumer spending despite the new variant. He said the background to the pandemic was very different this holiday season with more Americans fully vaccinated.
“We think there is a reason to be aware of this, a reason to follow the kind of protocols that we have followed all along on safe practices and vaccinations, but there is no need to panic,” he said .
