BUSINESS: Research + Stats The Holidays Are Driving Consumer Spending By Staff Monday, November 27, 2023 11:00 AM Shoppers are cautiously returning to the stores, with pre-holiday spending reaching new levels. A new report from Adobe Analytics found that consumers spent nearly $77 billion online in October 2023, up approximately 6 percent from 2022. This rose to $88.6 billion in November. Prime Day was one of the main drivers of online consumer spending, along with flexible payment options such as buy now, pay later. More than $6 billion in buy now, pay later purchases were made online, an increase of 6 percent over 2022. Since January, consumers have spent more than $58 billion using buy now, pay now programs, up 14.5 percent over 2022, with peak usage expected in November and on Cyber Monday. “We continue to experience a challenging economic picture, where increasing costs for consumers has been seen across rising interest rates, inflation in food prices, resuming student loan repayments and more,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights. “Despite the uncertainty in the macro-environment, Adobe Analytics data has shown that the consumer remains resilient heading into the big holiday season and they are embracing every opportunity to manage their budgets in more efficient ways.” Consumers were on the hunt for bargains in several key areas including sporting goods, electronics and apparel, seeing discounts reaching 12 percent. Items expected to be at the top of consumer’s lists this year include Roblox, card games, make-up gift sets, gift cards and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Other big sellers for Christmas 2023 are Lego, Barbie, Squishmallows, art sets, action figures and plush toys. Bluetooth headphones, smart home and streaming devices and smart watches are top electronics and Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch and Madden 24 are the most popular video games. Purchases using mobile devices reached nearly $40 billion, up 46 percent over 2022. Consumers are also continuing to take advantage of curbside pickup, with 18 percent of purchases made using this method. This is up from 17 percent from October 2022. An increase in spending is driving down online prices after months of inflationary pressure. The Adobe Digital Price Index shows prices online have fallen consecutively for 14 months.