The United States is a diverse nation of consumers with different wants, needs, backgrounds, opinions, values, and expectations. However, not all voices are always clearly heard, often leading to decision-makers remaining ill-informed.
CivicScience’s robust privacy-centric polling platform, fueled by our media partnerships, enables Americans from all walks of life to be heard and informed. In this series, we’ll take a closer look at Hispanic and Latino American respondents, who represent 19% of the U.S. population.
With the holiday season kicking into high gear, here are some key insights about U.S. Hispanic consumers’ holiday shopping habits and how they compare to the non-Hispanic U.S. population.
1. Hispanic Americans are lagging behind on holiday shopping compared to non-Hispanic Americans.
Unlike last year, Hispanic Americans are behind non-Hispanic Americans in holiday shopping. Post Black Friday shopping, 34% of Hispanic Americans haven’t started crossing items off their holiday lists, five points higher than non-Hispanic Americans (29%). Additionally, 35% of non-Hispanic Americans are either almost or completely done with their shopping, compared to just 21% of Hispanic Americans who report the same.
2. However, retailers can expect this demographic to spend ‘more’ this holiday season.
Despite being behind on holiday shopping, Hispanic Americans are significantly more likely to spend more this holiday season (39%, up from 37% last year) compared to non-Hispanic Americans (24%). Similarly, this demographic is far more likely than non-Hispanic Americans to purchase more gifts overall than last year (26% vs 16%).
Join the Conversation: Would you say you are spending more on holiday gifts this year than you did last year?
3. Perhaps as a result of spending more on gifts, Hispanic Americans are more than twice as likely to take on holiday debt.
Taking on holiday debt is a reality for many Americans this year, and the same holds for Hispanic Americans. Nearly one-quarter of this demographic intends to take on holiday debt, compared to 11% of non-Hispanics who report the same. Given that a large percentage are unsure, these numbers could increase as the holiday season progresses. Middle-income Hispanic households are the most likely to take on holiday debt (26%), whereas non-Hispanic households of all income levels are equally likely to take on debt (11%).
4. Big-box retailers are poised for success among all Americans, but Hispanic Americans skew more toward shopping at other types of stores.
With plans to shop at big-box retailers for the holidays up nearly 20% ahead of the season, it may come as no surprise that both Hispanic and non-Hispanic Americans are most likely to shop at these types of retailers. However, Hispanic Americans are 11 percentage points less likely to shop at big-box stores. Instead, they’re more likely to shop at deep discount stores (+5 points), specialty stores (+4 points), and department stores (+3 points).
5. Self-gifting is prominent among Hispanic Americans.
Recent data points to a surge in self-gifting this year, especially post-election. Hispanic Americans are no exception, as 45% of this demographic plans to self-gift this year, ten percentage points higher than non-Hispanic Americans (35%).
Answer our Poll: Do you plan on getting gifts for yourself this holiday season?
Despite lagging behind on holiday shopping this season, Hispanic Americans are spending more, buying more gifts, shopping at a range of retailers, and self-gifting more than non-Hispanic Americans, making them a key demographic to pay attention to this holiday season.
