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TD Bank Survey: COVID-19's Impact On Holiday Shopping

Furniture World News Desk on 11/16/2020


Ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, TD Bank surveyed consumers on their plans for the upcoming holiday season in light of the pandemic and economic downturn that are impacting how many American consumers are spending. 

The survey found that overall, Americans plan to spend less and put more on credit due to the pandemic, demonstrating the need for retailers to offer tailored financial solutions in order to drive sales this year. Key findings include:

  • 41% of Americans said they plan to spend less on holiday shopping this year, either due to a lower budget (23%) or because they are seeing less family and friends (18%). Millennials and Gen X were more likely than older generations to plan on spending less.
  • Over a third (34%) plan to put more on credit cards or retail store cards this year, perhaps because they need the flexibility of paying later on. This may be especially true for those who were laid off/furloughed but have returned to work (41%), are still laid off or furloughed (42%), or had salary cuts (44%).

  • Almost half (47%) don’t plan to shop on Black Friday, over half (51%) of which named COVID-19 as the reason they plan to avoid it. 60% do plan to shop on Cyber Monday, particularly millennials (78%).

 

Additional stats 

  • When it comes to who they are buying gifts for outside of close friends and family, Americans plan to buy for coworkers (17%), delivery people (12%), and teachers (10%). In 2019, the top three were coworkers (20% - perhaps down this year due to the WFH environment), holiday party hosts (13% - potentially down this year due to less parties occurring) and teachers (11%).

  • Only 5% plan to buy “experiential” gits (concert tickets, dinners, spa days, etc.) this year, down from 10% last year. This is likely due to closures of public events due to COVID-19.

  • Those whose employment status was negatively impacted by the pandemic were more likely to shop on Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday.

  • Respondents in Boston (75%) and New York (70%) are most likely to shop on Cyber Monday. Shoppers in these cities also cite COVID-19 as their primary reason for avoiding Black Friday shopping (Boston 67%; New York 56%)

  • A quarter (26%) are planning to shop more online than in person this year due to the pandemic, including 41% of New Yorkers, an area hit hard by the pandemic.

  • Over a third (35%) are shipping gifts this year because of the pandemic. New Yorkers especially at 48%.



About TD Bank: TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,200 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth®, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.td.com/us. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com/us.