• by Ray Schultz , November 14, 2019

A strong labor market and rising consumer confidence point to strong holiday sales. There could be a hangover from weak sales in 2018, not to mention a compressed holiday period, according to 2019 Holiday Shopping Trends, a study by Morning Consult.

But Morning Consult believes other forecasts are lowballing it. Of the consumers polled, 34% plan to buy online during the holidays, versus 22% who do so at other times in the year. Only 31% plan to shop in-store, compared to 44% in general. And 30% plan to do both for this season. So get those emails ready.

Young people prefer the in-store experience — 75% of the Gen Z crowd will walk around stores, compared with 64% who will browse online.

Millennials prefer to shop online by a sight margin — 79% to 77%.

Gen Xers come in at an even split, at 77% apiece for online and in-store. Boomers are only slightly more in favor of shopping in-store — 71% to 70%.

What are they buying? Here’s the shopping list:

• Clothing — 73%
• Gift card — 69%
• Food — 60% 
• Book — 48%
• Video game — 41%
• Makeup/beauty product — 37% 
• Jewelry — 37%
• Kitchenware — 37%
• An experience or activity — 34%
• Headphones — 33% 
• Sporting goods — 28%
• Gaming console — 24% 
• Travel — 23% 
• Television — 22%
• Tablet — 22% 
• Smartphone — 22%
• Computer — 21% 
• Watch — 21%
• Speakers — 18%
• Furniture — 17%
• A subscription service — 15% 

Shoppers are not as ready to make large household purchases as they were last year. But people in the $150K bracket are feeling more upbeat, and they comprise a high percentage of such buys. 

The study also found that:

• 70% plan to spend at least $100during Black Friday —  flat with last year
• 52% expect to shop during Cyber Mondayand 45% say they will shop on Black Friday
• 77% plan to shop at Walmartand 74% at Amazon. Amazon has the edge among more prosperous people and millennials

Morning Consult surveyed 2,200 consumers.