The holiday shopping trends this year are much like two sides of a coin: On one side are the spenders and on the other side the savers.
San Gabriel Valley business owner Art Solis is on the spending side.
While the pizza store owner does have a shopping budget, “it’s gotten to be more than I expected,” he said.
At the top of his Black Friday shopping list is an Apple iPad. Like many shoppers surveyed this year, he’ll be looking for deals, scouring discounts offered by Best Buy, Target and other big retailers.
On the flip side of the spending coin is Santa Clarita resident Stephanie, who asked not to use her last name for privacy’s sake. She’s watching her budget closely, she says, and likely will be spending less.
Both Southern California shoppers are reflected in two surveys about Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Despite ongoing high inflation and increasing credit card debt, consumers are still expected to spend 13% more this Thanksgiving holiday than last year.
The 2023 Deloitte Black Friday-Cyber Monday Survey predicts holiday spending this week will reach new highs as people stretch their budgets and make the most of deals.
In Southern California, 76% of consumers polled said they’ll shop Thanksgiving week compared with 44% last year, Deloitte said. The spike this year is likely tied to ebbing pandemic concerns.
Shoppers nationwide are expected to spend an average of $567 on Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, the report said. And 84% plan to spend as much, if not more, than they budgeted in September.
Solis, who co-owns the 3.99 Pizza Co. chain, said his spending plan gradually expanded to around $1,000 as he considered all the family and friends he has to buy for. They number about 20.
“Business has been pretty good this past couple months,” he said.
So what are this year’s most sought-after Black Friday/Cyber Monday items?
ConsumerBags lists light-bulb cameras, Black Falcon 4K drones, Thermalux heated vests and the Cosmic Scope camera lenses for smartphones among the top consumer picks.
The National Retail Federation predicts 87.2 million U.S. consumers will shop online for Black Friday, while 72.9 million will shop in-store. Cyber Monday is expected to draw 77 million shoppers.
And while in-store shopping remains significant, it’s expected to drop to $138 per shopper this year, versus $145 in 2022.
“With rising prices in mind, we expect consumers to be even more savvy with their holiday spending,” said Joe Santos, a regional executive of consumer banking with Bank of America. “They’ll be looking for deals. Deals are really going to drive the trajectory of how soon or how late spending is.”
Stephanie in Santa Clarita is approaching her holiday shopping with caution.
“I’m frugal,” she said. “I’m always on the lookout for deals, especially online.” She said she’ll spend $25 to $35 per person.
Scores of others are being cautious as well. A recent BofA survey shows 67% of shoppers are feeling financially strained this holiday season.
“Customers are redeeming more rewards,” Santos said. “In the fourth quarter, we see a lot of people who’ve earned rewards over the course of the year redeeming cash back to offset costs.”
Santa Monica resident Jessica Sarceda said she’ll be using installment loans with four payments for her holiday shopping this year — mostly gifts of shoes and clothes for family and friends.
She said she decided to use Zip, another company that provides short-term loans, after using the app to update her wardrobe each season. She prefers spreading out the payments to using a credit card.
“I wouldn’t say I use it for large expenses,” Sarceda said. “Payments are hundreds of dollars, not thousands. And it’s usually event-based. If there’s a music festival or a wedding — that’s typically where I’ll use Zip.”
Shoppers are also leaning heavily on their credit cards.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit shows credit card debt in America has increased by $45 billion from the first quarter of 2023. That represents a 4.6% increase in a single quarter.
Solis said many of his customers have expressed concerns over their finances.
“With inflation, high rent, gas prices and the overall cost of living … they’re just not feeling good,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
