Consumers Detail Memorial Day Shopping Plans

Overall, three-quarters of U.S. consumers plan to celebrate Memorial Day, with all types of celebration plans seeing increases versus last year and 92 percent of celebrators planning to make purchases. Those are some of the findings by data/tech company Numerator in its outlook for spending/activity plans for the upcoming three-day weekend.

The study’s findings include:

• The top celebration plans include grilling/barbecuing (59 percent of celebrators), followed by attending or hosting a party (43 percent) and cooking/baking (23 percent).
• More people intend to be out and about for Memorial Day 2023. Compared to last year, all celebration plans saw an increase in 2023, including recreational activities (+10 percentage points), attending or hosting parties (+9 points), attending public celebrations (+8 points) and watching fireworks (+6 points).
• Nearly everyone plans to make Memorial Day purchases. Food tops the shopping list (83 percent), followed by alcoholic beverages (46 percent), non-alcoholic beverages (35%), party supplies (16 percent) and decorations (11 percent).
• Beer is the top alcohol choice, but spirits and hard seltzers are seeing a jump in popularity. Among those planning to buy alcohol, the first choice is beer (70 percent), followed by wine (43 percent), hard seltzers (30 percent) and spirits (30 percent). Compared to 2022, more consumers say they are planning to purchase spirits (+10 percentage points) and hard seltzers (+2 points) this year.
• More than three-quarters of consumers expect rising prices to impact their Memorial Day spending. Just over a third say they expect a slight impact from inflation, 26 percent expect a moderate impact and 16 percent expect a significant impact.
• More than eight in 10 consumers (82 percent) will try to save money this Memorial Day. Just over half say they will buy items on sale, 28 percent will use more coupons, 28 percent will prepare budget-friendly foods, 20 percent will switch to store/private label brands, 17 percent will shop at dollar stores, 12 percent will reduce their travel and 11 percent will buy smaller items.

The study used verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of over 2600 consumers on their 2023 holiday intentions.

Click here for more results from the study.