Holiday Spending Outlook
Consumer spending during the winter holidays is projected to hit a record average of $902 per person, covering gifts, food, decorations, and other seasonal items, according to the latest survey from the National Retail Federation, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. This is an increase of around $25 per person compared to last year and is $16 higher than the previous record set in 2019.
The survey from NRF conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics asked 8,191 adult consumers and was conducted October 1st-7th.
As the holiday season approaches, shoppers are gearing up to visit a variety of retailers for gifts and seasonal essentials. As detailed in the survey, online shopping continues to dominate, with 57% of consumers intending to shop digitally this year, which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Trailing behind are department stores (46%), grocery stores and supermarkets (46%), and discount retailers (45%).
Global Schedule Reliability Drops in September
This September, global schedule reliability dropped by 1.2 percentage points month-over-month, reaching 51.4%, according to Sea-Intelligence data. While reliability this year has remained relatively stable within the 50-55% range, it has shown a slight decline since peaking in May. The low volatility in schedule reliability this year provides shippers with a clearer understanding of month-to-month trends.
Additionally, the average delay for late vessel arrivals has increased by 0.21 days month-over-month, rising to 5.67 days, per Sea-Intelligence data.
In September, only four of the top thirteen carriers experienced an improvement in schedule reliability compared to the previous month, per Sea-Intelligence. When looking at year-over-year performance, none of the top 13 carriers saw an increase in schedule reliability.