In our last posting, we shared some data from our September 19-23 survey of the wealthiest 10% of Americans – those with at least $100,000 in annual discretionary income. In this posting, we share another tidbit – our annual holiday forecast.
In 2007, we found the affluent kept holiday sales afloat, while the lower and middle class cut back. This year, the news is less encouraging. Among the affluent, 21% planned to spend less this holiday season than they did last year; only 7% planned to spend more. Even more importantly, the “decreasers” plan to cut back their spending by 37%, while the “increasers” plan to raise their spending by only 26%. Net-net, expect holiday sales among the top 10% to decrease by 6%. Given their dramatic spending power relative to the American mainstream, expect a holiday slowdown on par with those seen in other sectors of the economy.
Still, our projection for the wealthy nets out to $22 billion. But as we’ll see in our next posting, even America’s wealthiest are expecting a holiday season with distinct themes: services over stuff, experiences over extravagance, family and friends over status and labels.
