Holiday Shoppers Keep Spending Despite Money Worries, ICSC Finds

What happened

US holiday shoppers are putting seasonal gifting and experiences ahead of competing financial worries, according to ICSC's "2026 Holiday Intentions" survey. The research indicates that holiday spending is expected to hold up or grow, even as households compare options more closely and increasingly borrow to fund purchases.

Eighty-eight percent of US adults, roughly 237 million people, plan to buy holiday gifts or other seasonal items this year. Of those planning purchases, 78% expect to spend the same as or more than last year. The top 10% of shoppers anticipate spending about five times the average consumer's outlay.

ICSC president and CEO Tom McGee described shoppers as willing to make trade-offs for what matters most to them, while becoming more deliberate about when and where they buy. The findings, published via a press release, were also reported by Retail Customer Experience.

Why it matters

The survey shows financial pressure reshaping demand rather than suppressing it. Consumers are not dropping occasions that carry emotional weight; they are reallocating budgets, timing purchases and weighing alternatives more carefully. For brands, the decisive moment is increasingly the point of perceived value: where a purchase happens, how the offer is presented and whether the total cost feels justified.

The borrowing element deserves particular attention. When shoppers fund celebrations on credit, the experience after the purchase, including visibility of repayment and a sense that the spend was worthwhile, becomes part of the relationship. Organisations that design for deliberate, value-led buying are likely to be better placed than those relying on impulse.

By the numbers

• 88% of US adults plan to buy holiday gifts or other holiday-related items this season, approximately 237 million people.
• 78% of those shoppers plan to spend the same as or more than last year.
• 10% of shoppers, the top tier, expect to spend five times more than the average consumer.

The Renascence take

Most readers will take the headline as a sign of consumer resilience. The more useful signal is behavioural: shoppers are still committing to the occasion while scrutinising every step that leads to it.

The holiday winner is unlikely to be the brand with the deepest discount, but the one that makes value legible at the moment of choice, from price comparison to payment options. Shoppers are still committing to the occasion, so friction is more costly than ever. Operators should audit their holiday journey for every point where a customer has to justify the spend, and remove or simplify those moments.