While Memorial Day remains a solemn occasion for honoring the fallen members of the U.S. military, it has also grown into a major retail event with deep discounts on big-ticket items.
However, the scale of this year’s shopping may be more modest.
Consumers aren’t avoiding the shopping holiday, but with the highest gas prices since 2022 eating up more of their disposable income, what they’ll put in their carts is likely to be more practical than indulgent this year.
So instead of mattresses, appliances and furniture, consumers are leaning more toward summer clothes, home goods and beach supplies, according to a recent survey by RetailMeNot Group, which runs a digital coupon platform.
Of more than 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed, 54 percent said they plan to shop during holiday sales, up from 36 percent last year. But how much they plan to spend is way down, from an average of $289 in 2025 to only $86 this year, a decline of 70 percent.
“Consumers aren’t stepping back from holidays. They’re getting more disciplined about how much they let those holidays cost them,” Stephanie Carls, retail insights expert at RetailMeNot, wrote on a blog post.
“People are arriving with a number already in their head, buying what they came for, and moving on,” Carls wrote. “For retailers, that changes the math. Higher participation with lower spend per person means competition for each dollar is more intense than the foot traffic numbers suggest.”
Those who are shopping this year have an eye on summer. About 28 percent expect to shop for grills and outdoor cooking gear; 27 percent for summer apparel; and 21 percent for home goods or decor. Pool and beach gear, patio accessories, outdoor recreation gear, and outdoor furniture also ranked high.
Consumers aren’t universally abandoning expensive purchases, but they’re being selective, waiting to see Memorial Day sales ads. Of those willing to spend more, 18 percent are looking for electronics, 14 percent for appliances, 12 percent for large furniture, and 10 percent for mattresses.
Brick-and-mortar and online retailers are stocking accordingly, with deals on mattresses, furniture, kitchen appliances, tech, outdoor gear and grills, and seasonal fashion ahead of the holiday weekend.
The more cautious approach to spending is part of a broader trend of belt-tightening.
U.S. consumers are still buying, “but their financial cushion is getting thinner,” KPMG senior economist Yelena Maleyev wrote in response to a Commerce Department report that showed spending is softening.
Americans tempered their spending in April in response to spiraling gas prices fueled by the Iran war. Retail sales grew by only 0.5 percent in April, down from 1.6 percent growth in March, according to the Commerce Department data.
March marked the largest one-month increase in retail spending in more than three years, largely because gas prices spiked rapidly.
Spending patterns were uneven, with big declines in big-ticket merchandise often featured in Memorial Day sales.
Sales at department stores fell 3.2 percent, while sales at furniture and home furnishings stores slipped 2 percent. Businesses selling building material and garden equipment recorded a modest 0.1 percent increase. But online retailers and electronics and appliance stores both posted solid sales gains, according to an Associated Press analysis of Commerce Department data.
Economists worry spending will fall off more dramatically as the benefits from larger-than-expected federal income tax refunds dissipate, and consumers continue to struggle at the gas pump, leaving less money for refrigerators and mattresses.
Consumers are still spending, but the cracks are widening, KPMG’s Maleyev warned.
“Serious credit card delinquencies are nearing levels not seen since the Great Recession. The saving rate has not been this low since October 2022. Approximately 3.6 million households are in default on student loans,” she wrote.
Data increasingly show a growing divide: Wealthy households are propping up overall spending, while younger and lower-income individuals are struggling with the burden of elevated prices and mounting debt.
Shoppers are pulling back because prices, debt payments, gas, food, borrowing costs or job worries make purchases unaffordable, according to Maleyev. It is not just that people are buying less because they want to save money. Their spending is forced lower by financial pressure.
Some Americans are curbing their spending on non-essential items to make room in their budget for summer vacations, according to a new Deloitte survey of 4,000 Americans. That’s despite higher fares and other travel costs as airlines pass on higher jet fuel costs.
As with other areas of consumer spending, the higher travel costs hit lower-income Americans disproportionately. A third of respondents said they’re not taking vacations this year because “they can’t afford it,” but about a fourth of those who are taking trips plan to raise their travel budgets.
Only 45 percent of survey respondents plan vacations with paid lodging, the lowest share in six years, Deloitte said. More people at the lower end of the income spectrum are staying home, while households earning $100,000 or more are expected to make up 55 percent of travelers, up from 50 percent in 2025.
Travel is vulnerable when household costs rise. About half (51 percent) of Americans earning under $100,000 said travel is one of the first things they cut when expenses go up, compared with about one-third of those earning $100,000-$199,000 and one-quarter of those earning more than $200,000, according to the travel survey.
“General affordability is a major concern for non-travelers, but a growing number of those staying home specifically highlight the high cost of travel,” Deloitte said.
Overall, travel is expected to break records, according to AAA’s Memorial Day Weekend travel forecast, which said 45 million Americans are expected to travel 50 or more miles from home for the holiday. Both auto and air travel are expected to set records, with 39.1 million people taking road trips and 3.66 million flying to their destinations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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