Real estate services company JLL predicted American households plan to spend $1,243 on the holidays this season, up 9.7% from last year and almost back to where budgets stood two years ago.
A survey released JLL indicated mall shoppers will be big holiday spenders. Mall shoppers said they would budget $1,357 on average against $1,101 for everyone else. Two-thirds of households earning more than $150,000 plan a mall trip in 2026, according to JLL.
JLL reported mass merchandisers remain the most popular destination by channel at 54.6% for holiday shoppers, but mass retailers handed back a good deal of last year’s traffic surge, which put them at 62.2%. At the same time, department stores enjoyed an advance in prospects, with 53.4% of consumers planning to shop them this year, JLL noted.
As to multi-store destinations, 55.3% of consumers plan to visit an enclosed mall this season, up from 49.9% in 2025, the JLL survey indicated. Every other multi-store channel softened.
After cutting back in 2025, consumers in the United States are determined to have a happy holiday season this year, JLL observed. As to the gift-versus-entertainment balance, the commercial real estate and investment management firm expects gains on both sides but does not expect them to come equally. JLL determined that gift budgets would increase by about 3.1%, with holiday budgets for food and decorations gaining 16%, and holiday budgets for entertainment and dining out gaining 17.3%. As such, shopping centers that also offering dining and entertainment options could see extended gains in holiday spending. JLL put gifts at just under half of the budget for holiday season 2026 at 48.1%, slightly lower than last year.
Consumers on average plan about five shopping stops, with those who intend to drop into one or two stores spending $863 and those planning six to nine drop-ins spending $1,550, JLL reported. Consumers who see themselves visiting 10 or more stores plan to spend $1,656, JLL maintained.
JLL added the consolidation toward short, focused trips that defined last season isn’t likely to continue as part of this year’s holidays. The three-to-five store trip is still the norm and actually grew, year over year to 56.9% from 51.5% Some 12% now plan to visit 10 or more stores, up from 7.8% from 2025. Still, 15.9% will visit just one or two, up 13.2%.
As for artificial intelligence, 60% of shoppers will use AI at some point in the holiday season, JLL asserted. Getting gift ideas is the most popular application at 40.5%, seeking savings follows at 33.7% and getting ideas about where to shop come next at 19.4%.
