IBISWorld Inc. expects a slight increase in spending during the Christmas season and predicts an increase in retail sales of 3.4% in the year to $ 68.9 billion, reports Rapaport.
Christmas presents traditionally make up a huge article in the expenses of American families, accounting for about 77.3% of the total spending of consumers during the holiday period, estimated at $ 53.3 billion. However, IBISWorld believes that this year the average American family will cut its spending on the purchase of gifts and reduce the number of people close to whom they will be awarded.
At the same time, IBISWorld expects consumers to give preference to more valuable Christmas gifts, including a 7% increase in consumer spending on jewelry, up to $ 5.58 billion on a year-on-year basis.
If sales of jewelry products increase in accordance with the forecasts, the growth rate will be slightly less than the 8.8% increase in sales in American jewelry stores registered in the first nine months of 2013, according to Rapaport News.
According to IBISWorld, 111.7 out of 115 million American families will celebrate Christmas, which will spend 3.9% more for the festive dinner than last year.