As we head into the holiday season after months of an ongoing global pandemic, it is safe to say that there is a pent-up demand for consumers to go nuts with their holiday shopping this year. We are going to certainly see more consumers spending on credit simply due to “frugal fatigue.”
I’ve been talking about frugal fatigue for years – it comes around every holiday season. But this season it’s especially rampant.
As a mom of twin toddlers, that pandemic guilt is really setting in and I want to shower my girls with gifts and toys and anything that will bring a smile to their faces. Parents and grandparents alike want to spend on their loved ones even more than ever before.
We don’t have traditional Black Friday events anymore – they are typically rolling events can last anywhere from a long weekend to full months – but I recently did a study which showed that 50% of people are spending online as opposed to going into stores.
While there are still certainly people doing their holiday shopping in person, most are going to be shopping entirely online, as they have been for almost all of their needs since the pandemic first erupted in March 2020, and that is still going on. So in addition to buying gifts online, we’re seeing people still ordering their groceries, home goods and basic everyday items online, which is going to make it difficult for last minute gift buyers to get their packages in time for the holidays.
Bottom line –shipping and handling this year is going to be a huge issue. Last minute deadlines are just not going to happen. While major corporations, such as Amazon, has it pretty much locked and loaded logistically of how people can order online, you should still order your gifts far in advance this year just in case those packages are not delivered in time.