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Most Popular Christmas Gifts – What People Are Buying

By Jordan Ellis · Data & rankings writer · 

Christmas spending on gifts hits a predictable peak every year, and the National Retail Federation has the numbers to prove it. In 2024, the average American spent $902 on holiday items overall, with $641 going specifically to christmas gifts. That is a lot of purchasing pressure concentrated into a few weeks, and it creates a clear picture of what ends up under the tree. Gift cards, clothing, and toys consistently lead every year. Here is what that picture looks like in detail.

The short answer is gift cards, clothing, and toys. The long answer involves a few more categories that rotate in and out of the top ranks depending on the year. What makes this list different from most editorial roundups is that it is ordered by purchase frequency and search volume, not by editorial preference. Every item below shows up in NRF survey data, Google Trends spikes, or both.

The data tells a consistent story across multiple years of surveys. Gift cards top the list because they let the recipient choose exactly what they want. Clothing ranks second because it is the top gift category by total dollars spent. Toys drive enormous volume around children and families. Electronics and gaming spike with product cycles. The rest of the list fills in the gaps for different people on your list.

Here are the items that show up most frequently in purchase data, search trends, and holiday gift guides this year.

1. Gift cards

Gift cards are the single most requested holiday item. Fifty-three percent of shoppers planned to buy at least one gift card in 2024, according to the NRF. They work for any recipient, any budget, and any occasion. Restaurant cards, retail cards, and streaming subscriptions are perennial favorites. The flexibility argument is hard to beat, which is why gift cards hold the top spot year after year.

2. Clothing and accessories

Forty-nine percent of shoppers included clothing in their gift plans. Apparel is the top gift category by total dollars spent, which means Americans spend more on clothing as Christmas gifts than on any other category. This includes loungewear, socks, jackets, and accessories like hats and gloves. Cozy home clothing performs particularly well in colder months. Accessories like scarves, wallets, and belts also fit here.

3. Toys

Thirty-six percent of shoppers planned to give toys in 2024. Lego sets, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars, and board games like Monopoly and Catan appear on most top-sellers lists year after year. Squishmallows and collectible figures have driven notable search volume in recent seasons. This category is heavily weighted toward children, which means parents and extended family do the heavy lifting on purchasing volume.

4. Books and media

Thirty-one percent of shoppers bought books or media as gifts. Print books remain strong, particularly fiction and cookbooks during the holiday season. Audiobook subscriptions and digital audiobook credits make practical gifts for commuters and readers. Streaming service gift cards also land in this category and are popular for their low price point and universal applicability.

5. Food and candy gifts

Thirty percent of shoppers included food or candy in their gift plans. Gourmet chocolate boxes, specialty treat tins, holiday cookie collections, and artisanal food gift sets sell well in the weeks before Christmas. These are popular as host gifts, workplace presents, and stocking stuffers. The advantage here is low friction: food gifts are almost always appreciated and rarely returned.

6. Electronics

Headphones, tablets, gaming accessories, and smart home devices fall into this broad category. Gaming consoles see significant spikes in November and December as people buy them for family members. Bluetooth speakers, portable chargers, and smart plugs are consistent mid-tier electronics gifts. E-readers like Kindle devices also perform well as holiday gifts for avid readers.

7. Beauty and personal care

Skincare gift sets, fragrance collections, and hair tools like flat irons and curling wands show strong holiday demand. Sol de Janeiro fragrances have registered notable search volume in 2024, driven by social media attention. Dyson Airwrap kits and similar higher-price-point items appear on many gift guides this year. Luxury skincare advent calendars drive category excitement in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

8. Jewelry

Charm necklaces had an all-time high in search volume during 2024 per Google Trends data. Charm bracelets, simple rings, and pendant necklaces sell well across price points. This category spans fashion jewelry at lower price points to fine jewelry at higher ones. The advantage of jewelry as a gift category is its durability and the personal nature of the selection.

9. Home and kitchen items

Cozy blankets, cast iron cookware, coffee equipment, and kitchen gadgets round out this category. Instant Pot-style multi-cookers, high-quality knife sets, and French press coffee makers appear consistently on holiday gift guides. Lower price points make these suitable for friends and coworkers. The category also benefits from the “cozy home” trend that peaks during winter months.

10. Experience gifts

Dinner reservations, spa days, museum memberships, and activity classes form a growing gift category. The appeal is straightforward: instead of another physical object, you give an experience or a memory. Concert tickets, cooking classes, escape room bookings, and wine-tasting events show up in this space. Experience gifts work well for people who already own what they need.

11. Gaming

Thirty-one percent of shoppers included video games or gaming accessories in their holiday purchases. This overlaps with electronics but warrants its own callout because gaming has such a dedicated audience. Nintendo Switch games, PlayStation and Xbox titles, and gaming accessories like controllers and headsets all sell well. Gift cards for PlayStation Store, Xbox Gold, and Steam are practical options.

12. Wellness and self-care

Massage devices, foot baths, infrared sauna blankets, and essential oil diffusers fall into this space. Search interest in wellness and self-care items was up eighty-five percent in 2024, according to Google Trends data. This category skews toward adult recipients and those with established self-care routines. It also performs well as a gift for parents and older family members.

Sub-intent search traffic is enormous for Christmas gifts by recipient type. Rather than splitting this into twelve separate articles, here is a consolidated view of what people search for most across the highest-volume recipient categories.

Gifts for her

Clothing, beauty and fragrance sets, and jewelry make up the most-searched gifts for women. Perfume gift sets and skincare collections perform consistently throughout the holiday season. Charm necklaces and simple pendant styles had the strongest 2024 search data according to Google Trends. Clothing items like cozy pajamas and loungewear sets also rank highly.

Gifts for him

Clothing, gaming and tech accessories, and food and drink gifts lead for male recipients. Whiskey gift sets, craft beer selections, and specialty food crates show strong search volume in the male demographic. Gaming gift cards and accessories rank highly for male teens and younger men. Experience gifts like sports tickets and meal kits also show up here.

Gifts for kids

Toys dominate here more than any other recipient category. Lego sets, Hot Wheels, Squishmallows, and board games are the consistent standouts year after year. Books and arts and crafts supplies also perform well for younger children. Parents shopping for kids are the most consistent buyer segment in the holiday market.

Gifts for teens

Electronics, gift cards, and trending items make up this category. Digital cameras, wireless earbuds, and sneakers have driven notable search spikes this year. Gift cards for gaming platforms and clothing retailers are safe, popular choices for teens who are difficult to shop for. This is the recipient group most likely to appreciate gift cards over physical items.

How Much Do People Spend on Christmas Gifts?

The NRF reported $641 as the average amount spent on gifts per person in 2024. Total holiday spending, including food, decorations, and other seasonal purchases, averaged $902 per person across all categories.

Most of that spending goes to family. Shoppers consistently prioritize immediate family members, with friends, coworkers, and acquaintances receiving lower-budget items or being dropped from the purchase list entirely. Gift cards perform well in this environment because they let recipients self-direct the spending within whatever budget the giver set.

The timing pattern is worth noting. Two in five holiday shoppers start their Christmas shopping before November, according to NRF survey data. That means a significant portion of holiday purchasing is already underway by early November, which explains why retail traffic and search interest peak well before December. Early shopping is partly about availability and partly about spreading out the cost.

Gift cards are the most requested item precisely because they solve the uncertainty problem. When you are not sure what someone wants, a gift card removes the guesswork and the risk of giving something unwanted. That flexibility explains their consistent dominance in the NRF data across multiple years.

A few patterns hold across multiple years of data. Gift cards and clothing stay near the top because they are practical and flexible. Toys remain durable because children represent a recipient category that consistently drives purchasing volume. Electronics and gaming rotate based on what is new and trending each season.

Experiences are growing as a category. Fewer people want more physical objects, and more people appreciate gifts that create memories or save them money on things they would buy anyway. Wellness items have also gained ground as self-care became a mainstream priority rather than a niche interest.

The popularity rankings on this page reflect actual purchasing and search behavior, not editorial opinion. Sources include the National Retail Federation’s annual holiday shopping survey and Google Trends search volume data. Where claims are made about specific items or categories, the source is named in the text. This is meant to be a factual snapshot of what people are actually buying, not a curated list of what someone thinks you should buy.