Younger shoppers are pulling back on holiday gifts in 2026. PwC’s Holiday Outlook 2026 found millennials plan to cut gift budgets by 10% and Gen Z by 9%, even as both groups keep celebrating, which makes low-cost group traditions like gift swaps more appealing than ever.
What’s trending
The generational split in holiday spending is widening. According to PwC’s Holiday Outlook 2026, reported by Retail TouchPoints, millennials plan to cut their gift budgets by 10% this year, while remaining the biggest overall spenders. Gen Z is trimming gift spending by 9% and has the lowest total spend of any generation surveyed. Baby boomers, meanwhile, are moving in the opposite direction.
Travel is feeling the pinch too: millennials’ travel spending is down 37% and Gen Z’s is down 29%, as shoppers trade down on flights and hotels.
Why it’s resonating
Cutting back doesn’t mean opting out. The same survey found nearly 8 in 10 Gen Z consumers are drawn to nostalgic, screen-free gifts, and 71% of Gen Z shoppers enjoy browsing in person, compared with 60% of consumers overall. Younger shoppers still want the holiday experience; they’re just being choosier about where the money goes.
For friend groups and coworkers, that often means rethinking the “everyone buys for everyone” model, which gets expensive fast as a circle grows.
The rise of the group gift swap
A group gift swap solves the math: each person brings one wrapped gift at an agreed price, and the fun comes from how the gifts change hands. It’s a natural fit for a Friendsmas dinner or an office party where people want to celebrate without stretching a tighter budget.
Games make the swap the main event. In a left right exchange, gifts move around the circle as someone reads a story aloud, with LEFT and RIGHT deciding who ends up with what. A funny left right Christmas story with names adds an extra laugh by writing friends or coworkers into the plot.
The bottom line
Millennials and Gen Z are heading into the 2026 holidays with leaner budgets but no less enthusiasm. Expect fewer big individual gifts, and a lot more swaps, games and shared traditions that make one small present go a long way.