This blog post is part of Forrester’s Holiday 2018 retail series.

Online holiday shopping in the US is set to grow to $151 billion this year, up 14% from $133 billion in 2017. Total holiday sales will grow at a more conservative 1.7%. All told, we see approximately one-fifth of all US holiday shopping this year happening online — and of course, digital touchpoints will influence lots of sales that ultimately happen in-store.

What’s behind the growth? Our 2018 forecast tells us that:

  • American consumers appear confident, bolstered by record-low unemployment and healthy wage growth.
  • More US consumers will buy online for the holidays than last year.
  • US online holiday buyers will spend an average of 11% more for online purchases this year than last, to the tune of an average of $785.

See all the details in our brief, “Forrester Analytics: Online Holiday Retail Sales Forecast, 2018 (US),” as well as our Western Europe holiday forecast. And do check out all the Holiday 2018 insights and advice from many of our Forrester colleagues for your best online holiday season yet.