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State of the Screens

Record Online Spend Means Happy Holidays For E-tailers

By December 29, 2020December 22nd, 2021No Comments

Total holiday spend according to the National Retail Federation:
1) 2009 – $503B ( 0%)
2) 2010 – $529B ( 5%)
3) 2011 – $553B ( 5%)
4) 2012 – $568B ( 3%)
5) 2013 – $584B ( 3%)
6) 2014 – $614B ( 5%)
7) 2015 – $633B ( 3%)
8) 2016 – $653B ( 3%)
9) 2017 – $687B ( 5%)
10) 2018 – $701B ( 2%)
11) 2019 – $729B ( 4%)
12) 2020P – $761B ( 4%)

 

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Average holiday spend per person (YoY growth):
1) 2009 – $783     
2) 
2010 – $831 ( 6%)
3) 2011 – $878 ( 6%)
4) 2012 – $893 ( 2%)
5) 2013 – $902 ( 1%)
6) 2014 – $929 ( 3%)
7) 2015 – $953 ( 3%)
8) 2016 – $936 ( 2%)
9) 2017 – $967 ( 3%)
10) 2018 – $1,007 ( 4%)
11) 2019 – $1,048 ( 4%)
12) 2020P – $997 ( 5%)

Breakdown of average holiday spend (% of total):
1) Gifts – $650 (65%)
2) Cards/Decorations – $230 (23%)
3) Travel/Other – $117 (12%)

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FYI: The travel/other category is down 28% YoY.

Big question #1: What is the most requested holiday gift?

Quick answer: 59% say gift cards.

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Key details for the gift card economy:
1) $71B in gift cards were purchased in 2019
2) $1T+ over the past decade
3) $46B in unused gift cards are floating around

Unused gift card balance by company:
1) Amazon – $2.8B
2) Walmart – $1.9B
3) Starbucks – $1.6B
4) Target – $727M

Interesting: The average shopper spends $59 more than gift card value on their trip to redeem.

Big question #2: When are gift cards redeemed?

Share of gift cards redeemed after X months:
1) 1 month – 38%
2) 6 months – 73%
3) 12 months – 78%

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More #1: ‘Big 3’ Holiday Days Exceed $22 Billion in Online Spending, Grow 25 Percent Year-Over-Year

More #2: The hardest-to-find toys each holiday season since 1983

More #3: How Tipsy Elves built a $125m ugly Christmas sweater empire

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.

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