NEW YORK — As the autumn leaves fall and retailers prepare for the frenetic pace of the year-end shopping rush, a quiet revolution is taking place in the carts and digital baskets of American consumers. While traditional retailers have long relied on the promise of physical merchandise—from electronics and apparel to toys and home goods—to drive holiday revenue, data indicates a seismic shift in consumer priorities.
Experience-based gifts are surging dramatically ahead of this year’s holiday shopping season, capturing the imagination and wallets of a public increasingly weary of material clutter. Driven largely by middle-income households, this trend represents a fundamental evolution in how modern consumers define value, generosity, and the spirit of the season.
Main Facts: The Rise of the Experiential Economy
At the heart of this trend is a massive pivot toward intangible, memory-making presents. According to a comprehensive survey of 4,000 U.S. consumers conducted by Deloitte between August and September, 50% of respondents stated they plan to purchase experience-based gifts this holiday season.
These gifts encompass a wide array of activities and services, most notably:
- Restaurant meals and dining gift cards
- Tickets to live events, concerts, theater performances, and sporting matches
- Digital and physical subscription services (streaming, curated boxes, fitness apps)
- Travel vouchers, weekend getaways, and spa retreats
This dramatic surge is not an isolated anomaly, but rather the apex of a multi-year trajectory. Industry analysts point out that the appetite for experiential gifting has grown exponentially over the past several cycles, fundamentally altering retail strategies from Main Street to major corporate boardrooms.
The demographic driving this movement is equally telling. While high-income earners have traditionally been the primary consumers of luxury experiences, current data highlights the middle-income household as the primary engine behind this year’s growth. Middle-income families, despite facing persistent inflationary pressures and economic uncertainties, are consciously choosing to allocate their discretionary holiday budgets toward shared moments rather than wrapped boxes.
Chronology: The Evolution of Experiential Gifting
To understand how the market arrived at this tipping point, it is necessary to examine the evolution of consumer behavior over recent years. The journey from material-centric holidays to experiential gifting has been accelerated by shifting cultural values, technological developments, and global economic disruptions.
2022–2023: The Post-Pandemic Rebound
In the immediate wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer spending experienced a chaotic rebound. Initially, locked-down populations rushed to purchase physical goods, leading to supply chain gridlocks. However, by late 2022 and into 2023, consumer sentiment began to pivot. Having spent years isolated in their homes, people placed a newfound premium on getting outside, traveling, and reconnecting with loved ones in person. Gifting began to reflect this psychological shift, with early adopters moving away from fast-moving consumer goods toward localized events and dining experiences.
2024: The Tipping Point (39%)
By the 2024 holiday season, the trend had matured into a measurable market force. Deloitte’s tracking data from that year revealed that 39% of U.S. consumers were actively planning to incorporate experience-based gifts into their holiday shopping strategies. Retailers and brands began to notice that traditional toy and apparel sales were softening, while ticketing platforms, entertainment venues, and hospitality brands enjoyed an unprecedented fourth-quarter bump.
2025: Accelerated Momentum (47%)
The momentum accelerated drastically into 2025. Driven by persistent inflation, which made consumers critically evaluate the long-term utility of physical items, the percentage of shoppers eyeing experiences jumped to 47%. Consumers realized that physical items often depreciated quickly or gathered dust, whereas memories created through shared meals or concert tickets retained permanent emotional value. Furthermore, the subscription economy matured, making recurring services an accessible and attractive gift option for budget-conscious givers.
Late 2026: The 50% Milestone
Entering the current holiday shopping cycle, the trend has officially crossed the halfway mark. With 50% of surveyed consumers planning to purchase experiences, this category is no longer a niche alternative to traditional shopping—it is a core pillar of modern holiday commerce. Brands that fail to integrate experiential elements into their holiday offerings risk losing relevance with a public that increasingly measures value in moments rather than merchandise.
Supporting Data: Numbers Behind the Shift
To fully grasp the magnitude of this retail transformation, industry researchers rely on comprehensive consumer polling and economic metrics. The Deloitte survey of 4,000 U.S. consumers provides a clear statistical window into the psyche of the modern holiday shopper.
- The 11-Point Leap: Over a span of just two years, consumer intent to buy experience-based gifts has surged from 39% in 2024 to 47% in 2025, culminating at 50% for the current season. This represents an 11-percentage-point increase in a remarkably short timeframe.
- Demographic Breakdown (Middle-Income Resilience): While affluent consumers have historically maintained high spending baselines for travel and luxury events, the current growth is disproportionately fueled by middle-income households earning between $50,000 and $100,000 annually. These households are demonstrating financial intentionality, trimming frivolous physical purchases to fund high-impact experiences for family and friends.
- Category Preferences: Within the experiential sector, dining remains the king of accessibility. Restaurant gift cards and meal experiences top the list due to their universal appeal and flexible price points. Live entertainment (concerts, theater, and sports) follows closely behind, buoyed by a post-pandemic cultural renaissance in live events. Subscriptions—ranging from digital entertainment to hobby-based kits—occupy the third major pillar, offering a gift that extends the holiday joy across multiple months.
Official Responses and Industry Insights
Market experts and retail strategists are closely monitoring these developments, recognizing that the traditional holiday playbook requires an immediate rewrite.
Brian McCarthy, a principal in Deloitte’s strategy and analytics practice, shared key insights regarding this structural shift in an interview with ADWEEK.
“A lot of times when people think of the holidays, they just think of the physical gift, but consumers are putting their spend toward a broader set of spending categories,” McCarthy noted.
He emphasized that modern shoppers are viewing generosity through a holistic lens. Rather than asking “What item can I buy?” givers are increasingly asking “What activity can we do together?” This shift forces brands to rethink their marketing angles, moving away from product-centric advertising toward storytelling that emphasizes connection, togetherness, and shared joy.
Other industry leaders echo McCarthy’s sentiments. Marketing executives across the hospitality, entertainment, and retail sectors report that cross-promotional partnerships are on the rise. Traditional retailers are increasingly partnering with ticketing agencies, local restaurants, and experiential platforms to bundle physical goods with digital or in-person experiences, capturing a share of the burgeoning experiential economy.
Implications: What This Means for the Future of Retail
The rapid ascent of experience-based gifting carries profound implications for various sectors of the economy, transforming everything from supply chain management to corporate marketing strategies.
1. The Transformation of Traditional Retailers
Bricks-and-mortar stores and e-commerce giants that rely exclusively on physical inventory must adapt to survive. Retailers are being forced to innovate by offering digital gift cards that unlock services, curating in-store experiential workshops, or partnering with local entertainment venues. Companies that maintain a rigid, product-only mindset risk losing crucial holiday revenue to the hospitality and entertainment sectors.
2. Supply Chain and Inventory Realignment
For decades, the retail industry engaged in frantic inventory forecasting, stocking up millions of tons of plastic goods, electronics, and apparel months in advance. As consumer demand pivots toward the intangible, retail supply chains may see a long-term reduction in physical inventory pressures, replaced by digital fulfillment systems capable of instant delivery for subscriptions, vouchers, and event tickets.
3. Cultural Shift Toward Minimalism and Sustainability
The rise of experiential gifts is closely tied to broader cultural movements centered around sustainability and anti-consumerism. Many consumers, particularly younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z), are acutely aware of the environmental footprint associated with manufacturing, packaging, and shipping plastic toys and fast-fashion apparel. Experiences generate zero physical waste, making them an attractive, eco-friendly alternative for conscientious holiday shoppers.
4. Redefining Holiday Marketing
Advertising agencies are currently overhauling their year-end campaigns. Emotional resonance is replacing product specifications as the primary selling point. Commercials are less about the features of a gadget and more about the smile on a loved one’s face as they open an envelope containing concert tickets or a weekend vacation itinerary.
Conclusion
As the holiday shopping season reaches its peak, the data tells an undeniable story. The days of defining generosity solely by the size of the box under the tree are giving way to an era defined by shared experiences, lasting memories, and human connection. For middle-income households and consumers at large, the greatest gift this year is not something that can be wrapped in festive paper, but something that can be lived, shared, and remembered for a lifetime.
