Smartphones and wearable tech to drive holiday sales

New York - An annual survey conducted by PwC has revealed the majority of American consumers unsurprisingly plan to spend the same or even more than they had spent last year. What is more surprising is the amount of shoppers who plan to use technology to drive their holiday expenditures.

The survey of 2,071 consumers concluded that “Economic growth in 2018 is poised to be the strongest since 2005,” translating into a positive consumer sentiment and making for a strong holiday shopping season. On average, PwC predicts that there will be an overall of increase of 5 percent in holiday spending.

Younger demographics will spend the most, particularly millennials with large incomes, millennial fathers and Gen Z consumers. While 75 percent of shoppers will shop both online and in stores, 84 percent will only shop online. Of the online shoppers, 39 percent will use their smartphones to complete purchases. In the Gen Z demographic, smartphone shopping habits are even higher, with half of the consumers between 17 and 22 who shop online making their purchases via smartphone. Similarly, 42 percent of millennials prefer mobile to desktop when it comes to online shopping.

Smartphones will even affect in-store holiday sales. The majority of sales are anticipated to take place in store, with 91 percent of consumers shopping in store, yet technology will still be present. Overall, 30 percent of consumers will use a version of smart payment in stores, whether it be via smartphone, wearable technology or both. Millennials are twice as likely to pay via smartphone than any other demographic, and 2.5 times as likely to use wearable technology for payment.