SALEM, Va. – The holiday hustle has Virginians spending more money this holiday season and doing so online.
Over 60% of Virginians polled by Roanoke College say they will at least match their holiday spending from 2020. The poll also found most Virginians will spend no more than $500, which is up eight percentage points from last year.
“Of all the shopping Virginians plan on doing, 70% of it they will do online,” said Dr. Alice Kassens, Roanoke College IPOR Senior Analyst and John S. Shannon Professor of Economics.
She suggests local businesses ensure they have an online footprint to keep up with demand.
With that in mind, companies suggest shipping your gifts early.
“The global supply chain bottlenecks have been a challenge for us all, but the good news is UPS is ready to deliver,” said Nakeya Shelton, Presidents, Enterprise Sales for UPS.
Since January 2020, a spokesperson with UPS says they have delivered 95% of all packages on time.
Dr. Kassens says consumers will likely spend more because prices are up and also because they simply want to.
“The holidays are going to be a lot different this year. Last year before the vaccines a lot of us didn’t get to see a lot of family members especially if they were older. I think people are very excited to see people they haven’t seen in a long time and with that may come some extra gift giving,” said Kassens.
Click here to see full results from Roanoke College’s Holiday Spending report.