Saks executives are feeling confident in regards to the 2022 holiday season and have survey data supporting the sentiment.

Of the nearly 2,400 luxury shoppers participating within the “Saks Luxury Pulse,” 76 percent said they plan to spend the identical or more on holiday shopping this yr, down barely from 79 percent last yr.

Sixty-five percent said they plan to start out holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, versus 68 percent of respondents who planned to buy pre-Thanksgiving last yr. 

And 43 percent said they plan to buy mostly online with some in-store shopping this holiday season, in comparison with 50 percent last yr.

“Despite an evolving economic environment, we’re pleased to see luxury consumers’ enthusiasm for shopping this holiday season, each for themselves and others,” said Marc Metrick, chief executive officer of Saks, the e-commerce company of the Saks Fifth Avenue brand. “As our customers exit, travel and have fun the vacation season, we expect them to make the most of opportunities for self-purchasing along with luxury gifting. We’re confident they’ll turn to Saks for these occasions.”

The most recent Saks Luxury Pulse surveyed online 2,376 U.S. luxury consumers, between Sept. 16 and 19. They were primarily Saks customers, but all were over the age of 18 and all opted to receive the survey. The Saks Luxury Pulse is conducted quarterly, developed by Saks and administered by a 3rd party.

“We see continued strength with luxury consumers with somewhat little bit of softness coming from the aspirational consumer,” Emily Essner, chief marketing officer of Saks, told WWD. She defined the aspirational customer as those with household incomes of $100,000 or less.

Holiday 2021 for Saks and other retailers was strong, but recent industry organizations and analysts project much smaller gains for holiday 2022, and flattish or only slight gains when factoring the impact of inflation. The National Retail Federation forecasts that vacation sales within the U.S. will grow between 6 and eight percent over 2021, to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion. Last yr’s holiday sales grew 13.5 percent over 2020 and totaled $889.3 billion, shattering previous records. 

Cowen & Co. recently stated in a report that “holiday 2022 is shaping as much as be a really different dynamic than 2021 given a large number of macro pressures which are more likely to negatively impact the extent of holiday consumer spending versus prior years together with heightened inventory levels across the sector which have begun to trigger a ramp up in promotional markdowns.” 

Consumer spending slowed sharply in July, raising fears that the U.S. will enter right into a recession and Macy’s, Nordstrom and Kohl’s of their second-quarter reports reduced forecasts for the yr. 

Nevertheless, Saks executives don’t expect a giant change from last yr to 2022 in the vacation end result, with its luxury clientele. “With probably the most recent results closely consistent with our findings from last yr’s survey, we see that the overwhelming majority of luxury consumers remain excited and able to shop for the vacations, even amid a distinct economic landscape,” Essner said. Overall, findings from the most recent Saks Luxury Pulse “feel very consistent” to the survey’s findings a yr ago, she added.

The most recent Saks Luxury Pulse indicates that 24 percent of luxury shoppers are planning to separate holiday shopping equally between online and stores, in comparison with 17 percent last yr. For Essner, that 7 percent shift represents a major turn to a more omnichannel approach to shopping amongst luxury customers.

“The Saks Luxury Pulse provides us with meaningful insights that allow us to grasp our customer more deeply and the way we will serve them higher, with services like free shipping, same-day delivery, buy online, pick up in store,” Essner said.

“There’s pent-up demand. Individuals are making up for the time they lost through the pandemic. We’re seeing that customers are very occupied with getting dressed up for holiday parties or happening vacation,” said Essner. “There’s loads of strength in clothing in men’s and ladies’s which customers wish to buy and receive. Shoes is a top self-gifting category.”

In other findings from the Saks Luxury Pulse:

• When selecting where to buy, respondents said delivery and pickup options are their top priority, including free shipping and returns.

• Sixty-one percent of respondents say they’ll shop for brand spanking new holiday attire, up significantly from 45 percent last yr. 

• The percent of respondents who plan to decorate up in formal attire this holiday season – 32 percent- doubled in comparison with last yr’s 16 percent. 

• When asked about their holiday plans, 50 percent of respondents said they plan to attend and/or host a vacation party and 27 percent said they plan to go on vacation to a tropical or ski destination.

• With regards to gifting, respondents said they need to offer gift cards (69 percent), clothes (64 percent) and hobbies corresponding to books, handcrafted items, movies (51 percent).

• When sharing what they desired to receive as a present, respondents selected clothes (48 percent), beauty and fragrance items (33 percent) and wine and spirits (33 percent). 

• Respondents are most occupied with self-gifting shoes (39 percent), handbags (28 percent) and wonder and fragrance items (27 percent).