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Digital channels claim greater share of holiday spending, Co-op data shows

December 7, 2018

Increasingly, credit and debit cardholders are completing their holiday shopping via digital channels and spending more money on experiences, according to a Co-op Financial Services analysis of card transaction data from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday. 

This year, 27.5 percent of credit card transactions processed by Co-op came from electronic environments, compared with 25 percent in 2017, according to a press release. Likewise, debit transactions from electronic environments increased from 14.8 percent to 16.6 percent, according to Co-op. 

The data also shows that cardholders tend to spend more per transaction when shopping online. In 2018, the average card-not-present transaction using a credit card was approximately $100. On the other hand, card-present credit transactions averaged $77.84. With debit cards the comparison was $54.80 for card-not-present to $40.70 for card present.

The average spend per cardholder was also up this year — in some cases, significantly, the release said. Credit cardholders spent an average of $292 over the five-day period, up almost 20 percent over last year. Debit cardholders spent an average of $210, an increase of 11 percent over the same period in 2017.

Travel agencies, hotel and restaurant merchant categories experienced sizable increases in both volume and value of transactions, with each up at least 30 percent.

According to Deloitte, consumers have increased their budget for experiences over the last five years. PwC has predicted that consumers will spend more than 50 percent of their 2018 holiday budget on travel and entertainment, including hosting families in their homes and coordinating trips to celebrate with relatives.