Holiday shoppers favored party supplies, winter fashion, and self-care on Shopify

Shoppers were living in the moment, and thinking ahead, this holiday season, according to the latest data from Shopify shared first exclusively with Retail Brew.

Predictably, sales of holiday party essentials such as beverage chillers (up 134%), instant film cameras (121%), and cocktail and barware tool sets (89%) saw big increases in December, in addition to holiday gifts such as e-book readers (303%), coloring books and pads (280%), and candle making kits (262%).

But looking ahead, shoppers also invested in their New Year’s resolutions. Sales of spin exercise bikes were up 384%. Stylus pens were up 120%, and planners were up 69%. There were smaller increases in the sale of Pilates reformers, yoga mats, pocket notebooks, and desk calendars.

In a similar vein, shoppers seemed to prioritize self-care in December, with heavier demand for products such as eye pillows (up 118%), heating pads (67%), message cushions (60%), and electric massagers (52%).

Holiday highlights: If you’re interested in getting the bigger picture of the 2024 holiday season, the federal government’s monthly sales data is scheduled to be released on January 16. In the meantime, Mastercard’s SpendingPulse report found that US retail sales between November 1 and December 24 were up 3.8% YoY. The real bright spot though was in online sales, which increased 6.7%.

“Solid spending during this holiday season underscores the strength we observed from the consumer all year, supported by the healthy labor market and household wealth gains,” Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, said in a statement.

Mastercard’s data is slightly above the National Retail Federation’s forecast of between 2.5% and 3.5% increase in sales. As of late December, NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said, “The season’s pace of spending is clearly on track to reach our forecast.”