According to Adobe, the 2022 holiday spending season kicked off with retailers raking in a record high of $9 billion in online revenue, up 2.3% year-over-year. Analysts anticipate last-mile retail holidays like Green Monday, the second Monday of December, and Super Saturday, the weekend before Christmas, will see additional e-commerce activity, as  retail spending YTD gained 5.2% in November.

As consumers cautiously scale back on spending, there has been a shift toward intentional retail therapy. Intentional shopping encourages thoughtful habits like taking one’s time and being fully present in the holiday shopping experience to avoid making impulsive decisions. Forty percent of U.S. holiday shoppers say recent shopping experiences have them reconsidering their spending habits. From shopping earlier for other milestones (i.e., anniversaries, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, etc.) to embracing flexible payment plans like Buy Now Pay Later to cover the debt.

Colliers Insight
Anjee Solanki
“NPD predicted 36% of consumers’ would splurge on consumer electronics this year, with consumer purchase intent specifically for smartphones, headphones, tablets/e-readers, and smartwatches.”

Cha-ching!

Nine billion dollars is a chunk of change. To find out where consumers spend their hard-earned money, we took a deep dive into Google’s Top Retail Search Trends over the last 30 days. At the time of publication of this post, video games, clothing, fragrance, and electronics were among the top categories.

In other news, sustainable brands continue to make retail waves. On the apparel front,  specialty sites ThredUp, Poshmark and DePop are pushing secondhand as a viable gift category. Consumers are aligned with that messaging, as the search term “unique thrift store” appeared in 360% of search queries in the U.S. last week alone.