How Are Americans Gifting this Holiday Season? Omnisend Shares 2024 Holiday Gift Giving Trends

With Black Friday quickly approaching, ecommerce marketing platform Omnisend released insights on how Americans plan to gift this season, from admitting to self-gifting, to describing why they blow the budget when participating in group gift exchanges. 

Topping the list of surprises is who the gift recipients will be: parents are first on the list of who Americans are shopping for this holiday season, with 51.24% of respondents saying mom or dad are on their list, followed closely by their spouse at 50.83%. Children are not far behind at 49%, but it marks a new trend that indicates the holidays are not actually mostly for children. Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents also said they’d be shopping for pets this year. 

Overall, Americans plan to spend less this season than last (37%), while 30% plan to spend more, 24% plan to spend the same, and 9% are undecided. 

The vast majority (82%) plan to purchase gifts on large online marketplaces including Amazon (94%), Walmart (63%) and Etsy (22%). With the launch of Amazon Haul – aimed at competing on price with Chinese marketplaces like Temu (where 23% plan to shop) and Shein (10% plan to shop) – it’s likely the new platform will only increase Amazon’s popularity this holiday season. 

But retail shops are still very much in the mix as Americans plan to buy gifts in brick-and-mortar stores including large retail stores (59%), discount stores (42%), small business stores (22%) and specialty or boutique stores (10%). 

Who has the best Secret Santa Gift? 

Group gift exchanges remain popular with 44% of Americans participating in group gifting. Kris Kringle / Secret Santa are the most popular format (50%) followed by Yankee Swaps and White Elephant exchanges at 41%.  

When budgeting for group gift exchanges the majority (65%) spend less than $30 on a gift and while most stay on budget (62%), 31% spend more and 7% admit to spending below the given budget. When asked why those who go over budget do, the most common response (41%) was because they want to see someone excited by their gift, followed closely (34%) by those who want everyone to think they’re the best gift giver.

Spontaneous Treats and Self-Gifting 

Almost half of respondents (45%) admit to self-gifting during the holiday season, most buying items they’d buy anyway to take advantage of sales (67%) and 32% reward themselves with spontaneous treats. A quarter (25%) find gifts they’re getting for someone else would be a good gift for themselves too, so they buy a second one. 

Small Business Saturday

Twenty-nine percent of Americans plan to participate in Small Business Saturday this year, with 71% planning to visit local small business stores, 18% expecting to shop on ecommerce sites of small businesses and 10% shopping on Etsy and other similar ecommerce marketplaces for small businesses. 

The biggest reason for participating in Small Business Saturday? Sixty-two percent say it makes them feel good to support small businesses and 17% want to avoid crowds and major retailers. 

How can ecommerce brands prepare for the holiday season? 

“Small businesses in particular face ongoing challenges to stand out during the holiday shopping season, especially when Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer day-long events but often go on for a week,” says Greg Zakowicz, Senior Ecommerce Expert at Omnisend. “Add in more competition following the recent launch of Amazon Haul coupled with limited time and staff – which is always a struggle for small businesses – implementing email automation can be extremely impactful.”

Last year, automated messages generated 41% of email marketing sales and only 2% of sends. 

“Considering emails are sent at high-intent moments of a consumer’s shopping journey and include welcome and both browse and cart abandonment emails – these three types of email messages alone make up over 80% of all email orders,” continued Zakowicz. “And the best part? They’re triggered by user behavior, meaning they’re sent automatically at all hours of the day and are not dependent on small business owners pushing out the messages.”