Generational Divide: See Which Age Groups Prefer Quantity To Quality This Holiday Season

Holiday shopping, black friday

It’s still a toss-up whether the holiday season truly begins after Thanksgiving or following Halloween, according to a recent JLL study.

More than two-thirds of 2,800 shoppers surveyed agree holiday shopping starts following Thanksgiving, while the majority of the 300 retail tenants JLL surveyed believe the season begins after Halloween. Whenever it starts, one thing is for sure—shoppers are expected to exceed their 2015 spending by 4%, and more than a third of shoppers are planning to spend more than $750 each on gifts this year.

JLL director of retail research James Cook tells Bisnow the health of the economy is encouraging holiday spending, though he says there is a competiting factor that could negatively impact spending.

“On the one hand, the economy, and GDP in general, has been slowly growing quarter after quarter, which should mean holiday spending should be getting better and better every year,” James says. “At the same time, with the political season upon us, there’s so much negative rhetoric in the air from both sides that you can forgive people for thinking that things are much worse than they are.”

Where They Like To Shop

JLL Holiday Chart
Courtesy of JLL

JLL’s survey discovered there’s a big generational divide in where consumers prefer to shop for the holidays. JLL found Millennials and Gen-Xers prefer to shop more online and at discount department stores, while Baby Boomers and those over 70 are more likely to turn to department and apparel stores first.

“One of the bigger differences is that the over-70s and Boomers did not have online shopping in their top three choices,” James tells us. “We asked people what influenced their shopping, and Boomers and over-70s said quality is more important, while Millennials and Gen-X said low prices are most important.”

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's National Newsletters
Related Stories

Data Center Energy Bill Stalls In Congress As Opponents Say It Lacked 'Real Teeth'

FedEx's Consolidation Plan Puts $3B Of CMBS Debt In Crosshairs

FBI Opens Investigation Into Multifamily Investor Lurin Capital

DWS Plans Liquidation Of Nontraded REIT After Heightened Redemption Activity

Bisnow's 2026 DEI Data Series

America's Data Centers Are Running Out Of People Who Know How To Run Them

Why Data Centers Crave Simplicity As Operations Grow More Complex

Blackstone Looks To Secondary Market To Cash Out Investors In $11B Fund

CalSTRS Plans $5B In New CRE Investments

Ares, Canadian Pension Investor Launch $2.4B U.S. Logistics JV

Troubled Multifamily Loans Face A Refinancing Problem: Who Puts In New Equity?

Toys R Us Plans 120 New Stores Ahead Of The Holidays