The top gift categories of the 2024 holiday season

Key stat: Over half (54%) of US holiday shoppers expect to give clothing or accessories as gifts this year, the most popular gift category, according to a November 2024 survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics.

Beyond the chart:

• Many holiday gifts turn into holiday returns—retailers expect their return rate this holiday season to be 17% higher than their annual rate, per NRF.
• We forecast total retail return value to reach $989.01 billion this year, up 18.8% from 2023.

Use this chart: Retailers can use this chart to plan post-holiday campaigns and sales, identify missed opportunities for the 2025 holiday season, and prepare for holiday returns.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• US Retail Ecommerce Returns 2024 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• US Holiday Ecommerce Sales Benchmarks: Q4 2024 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the November 2024 National Retail Federation (NRF) "2024 November Holiday Consumer Survey," conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. 8,135 US adult consumers were surveyed during November 1-7, 2024. The survey had a margin of error of +/-1.1 percentage points.