Mastercard Holiday Survey Highlights Conscientious Shopping Trend

Advertiser Disclosure

Last updated on July 31st, 2023

A new study from Mastercard is highlighting a more conscious approach to holiday shopping this year. Here are the results of the Mastercard SpendingPulse survey and what it means for retailers this holiday season:

Mastercard Holiday Shopping Survey Results

Mastercard monitors consumer spending trends through its Mastercard SpendingPulse™ reports. This year’s season is the longest to date, running from October 11th through December 24th – according to Mastercard. For the “expanded holiday season” of 2020, the payment network anticipates a significant increase in online spending, with an even steeper increase in consumer mindfulness.

Consumers Plan to Shop with Their Hearts

The latest SpendingPulse report notes that 75% of respondents claim they will be more mindful of where they spend their holiday money. Those shoppers say they will shop at retailers who share their personal values, with most (78%) prioritizing small businesses over big box stores.

Other areas where consumers are most likely to spend their holiday shopping funds include:

  • Minority-owned businesses: 68%
  • Women-owned businesses: 68%
  • Black-owned businesses: 66%

Holiday Shopping Is Shifting Online for 2020

Beyond a more conscientious approach to shopping, Mastercard is also noting a trend towards contactless payments. Approximately 66% of respondents say they plan to use contactless payment – like mobile wallets – when shopping this year. They also said they would prioritize shops that offer that flexibility.

Most of those surveyed plan to do most of their shopping online – with 55% of respondents prioritizing online purchases over in-store shopping.

Other Report Findings

Other findings from the recent Mastercard survey include:

  • E-commerce sales are expected to rise by 34.6% this holidays season
  • Furniture sales are up 20.1%
  • Hardware sales are up 11.5%
  • Grocery store purchases are up 7.1%

About Mastercard SpendingPulse™

Mastercard SpendingPulse reports on national retail sales across all payment types in select markets around the world. The findings are based on aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and checks.

This year’s Mastercard Holiday Shopping Survey was conducted in conjuncture with Harris Poll. The survey contacted 2,017 respondents across the United States between October 8th-13th, 2020. All respondents were screened for credit card use before being surveyed.

Related Article: The Best Credit Cards for the Holidays for 2020

Featured photo by: mohamed_hassan/ PixaBay

Editorial Disclosure – The opinions expressed on BestCards.com's reviews, articles, and all other content on or relating to the website are solely those of the content’s author(s). These opinions do not reflect those of any card issuer or financial institution, and editorial content on our site has not been reviewed or approved by these entities unless noted otherwise. Further, BestCards.com lists credit card offers that are frequently updated with information believed to be accurate to the best of our team's knowledge. However, please review the information provided directly by the credit card issuer or related financial institution for full details.

About: Cory Santos
Cory Santos

Cory is the senior credit card editor at BestCards, specializing in everything credit card-related. He’s worked extensively with credit cards and other personal finance topics, including nearly five years at BestCards. Cory’s extensive knowledge is an essential part of the BestCards experience, helping readers to live their best financial lives with up-to-date insights and comprehensive coverage of all facets of the credit card space, including market trends, rewards guides, credit advice, and comprehensive credit card reviews.

Advertiser Disclosure

BestCards is an independent, Florida-based credit card comparison platform. Many of the card offers that appear on this site are from companies from which BestCards receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). BestCards does not include all card companies or all card offers available in the marketplace.