Gallup poll: Americans expect to spend $837 on holiday gifts

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A Gallup poll released Tuesday finds that Americans expect to spend an average of $837 on gifts this holiday season.

That's about the same as the $805 they planned to spend in 2020, according to the poll.

Estimates for the past two years -- during the COVID-19 pandemic -- are lower than the preceding few years, including the record high $942 in 2019.

Some 64% of Americans plan to spend the same amount on gifts this year as they did last year, while 22% plan to spend less and 13% predict spending more.

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 1-19, with a random sample of 823 adults living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Gallup will release its second and final holiday spending forecast in mid-November.

Last week, the National Retail Federation said that despite the ongoing economic pressures created by the COVID-19 pandemic, holiday retail sales are forecast to set a new record, growing by as much as 10.5% over last year.

In September, consulting firm Deloitte reported that holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 7% and 9% in 2021, according to the company's annual holiday retail forecast.

Overall, Deloitte's retail and distribution practice projects that holiday sales will total $1.28 to $1.3 trillion during the November to January timeframe.

Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said last week that the company expects to take on "several billion dollars" of extra costs in its consumer business in the fourth quarter as a result of labor shortages, higher employee costs, global supply chain constraints and increased freight and shipping costs.

Amazon is navigating these challenges as it enters the peak holiday season, he said.