This year Americans will increasingly trek to brick-and-mortar retail when they're shopping for holiday gifts, according to the brokerage JLL.
"Consumers plan to budget big, enjoying the in-store shopping experience, stocking up on holiday decor and food and buying gifts for loved ones and themselves," JLL said in its 2024 Holiday Shopping Survey. "Approximately 71% of shoppers will use two or more channels to cross off their holiday lists, and most will interact in some way with stores."
The brokerage released the results of its annual holiday survey, "Shoppers Budget Big on Holiday Cheer," on Thursday, finding that on average holiday budgets will be 31.7% higher than in 2023, totaling $1,261 for gifts, holiday food, decor and experiences.
In addition, the survey of 1,017 consumers found that most of them "will interact with the physical retail store even more than last year, either by shopping in a mall; in an open-air center; picking up curbside or in-store, or a combination thereof," according to JLL. And malls are the No. 1 brick-and-mortar retail destination, the report said.
“Our survey indicates that consumers will flock to physical stores this holiday season, with malls emerging as the top brick-and-mortar destination," Kristin Mueller, president of retail property management at JLL, said in a statement. "In fact, we’re forecasting an 18% uptick in mall visits where shoppers can experience the full breadth of holiday spirit. Consumer demand for physical experiences, whether that be dining out, listening to live music, or appreciating storefront decor, has revitalized the mall experience and we’re expecting this resurgence to further accelerate in the 2024 holiday season.”
JLL's survey is in contrast to the speculation voiced during the pandemic that brick-and-mortar retail was on its way out, yielding to online shopping. To be sure, e-commerce is still a very popular channel — but one of several — for holiday shopping. But the percent of Americans who will buy online and have their items delivered to their homes dropped this year from last year, to 71% from 76.6%, JLL found.
"In fact, only 12.8% of holiday shoppers will exclusively order online for home delivery," according to the brokerage.
This year, 59.5% of those surveyed plan to shop in a store in an enclosed mall, compared with 40.8% last year, according to JLL. And 58.3% of Americans will shop at a store not in an enclosed mall, compared with 48.2% last year.
"Consumers will continue to use multiple channels to shop," JLL said.
While slightly fewer holiday shoppers than last year will order online for home delivery, shopping at malls and open-air centers is ticking up, according to the holiday report. Buy online, pick up in-store — known as BOPIS — and curbside pickup also grew in popularity from last year.
And for the first time, department stores topped the list of store types where consumers plan to visit for holiday shopping, followed by apparel stores and mass merchandisers, according to JLL. Over half of consumers, 57.9%, are planning to visit department stores, the survey found.
"This increase correlates with the rise in mall visits overall, where mall shoppers will increase by 18.7% this year," JLL said.
Americans will spend over an hour per shopping center visit, according to the brokerage's survey.
"Mall shoppers will linger longer, spending an average of 74.1 minutes (versus 66.2 minutes, on average)," JLL found. "A relatively higher percentage of mall shoppers will also spend over 90 minutes on each visit. Mall shoppers are more likely to visit six or more stores."
Malls continue to be popular with the younger generation, those ages 18 to 29, according to JLL.
Holiday spending will be up double-digits "driven by cooling inflation and the revival of physical storefronts," JLL said. But there is a change in budgets, with gift buying now making up just 46% of total holiday budgets compared to 55% in 2023.
“We’re not only seeing a shift in the amount that shoppers are spending but also what they spend their budgets on, including a focus less on giving and more on living,” Naveen Jaggi, president of retail advisory services for the Americas at JLL, said in a statement. “With consumers expected to increase their holiday shopping budgets by over $300 from last year, this increase is, in part, due to a 56% uptick in spending on holiday-related experiences, such as dining out or attending a live performance, signaling that shoppers are embracing more than just physical goods this season.”