United States: gift, novelty, and souvenir store sales 1992-2019

In 2019, U.S. gift, novelty, and souvenir store sales amounted to about 18.2 billion U.S. dollars, down from nearly 19 billion registered a year earlier.

Holiday retail sales in the United States

Sales of the gift, novelty, and souvenir industry dropped during the market crash in 2008, as did retail, and the holiday retail sales in the United States overall. However, following the market fall, holiday retail sales started recovering reaching approximately 730 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, from 502 billion back in 2009. While Millennials and younger consumers tend to choose travel and entertainment over more traditional gifts, presents remain an important role to show appreciation or love towards others. Gift cards, for instance, were amongst the most popular Christmas gifts in the United States in 2020.

Gift-giving on Valentine’s day

Valentine’s Day is a big deal in the United States. In 2021, planned Valentine’s Day spending was expected to reach over 20 billion U.S. dollars, being jewelry and an evening out some of the preferred gifts or experiences to give. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores remain popular for purchasing presents; however, more and more customers are turning to online channels to do so. According to a survey conducted in 2020, nearly 40 percent of male respondents were planning to purchase their gifts through Amazon. In that same survey, roughly two-thirds of male consumers in the country intended to buy Valentine’s presents while about six in ten women were planning to do the same.