Holiday spending trends: Small business experts and consumers weigh in on what to expect for 2021

With the 2021 holiday shopping season kicking off, Union Bank recently brought together a group of small business experts in Los Angeles to discuss holiday spending trends and expectations among consumers and retail businesses.

The virtual webcast event -- Road to Recovery: What’s in Store for Holiday Spending? – can be viewed in its entirety through this link.

The discussion among local business experts was fueled by data collected in a holiday spending survey conducted by Union Bank. Trends and findings in the survey include:

• This year, nearly half of consumers are planning to shop earlier than normal, with most shoppers planning to shop before mid-December.
• This holiday season, it may be harder for small businesses to keep up with consumer demands as they navigate ongoing supply chain issues, labor shortages and inflation fueled by COVID-19.
• Nearly a quarter of Americans say inflation is likely to have – or already has had – an impact on their ability to spend this holiday season.
• However, despite the challenges small businesses are facing, support remains strong, with 83% of consumers saying that holiday shopping with a small business is money well spent.

Full details on the survey and its findings are available here.

Written by Erik Battenberg