Dive Brief:

• Affluent U.S. consumers will be the big spenders on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to the American Express Spending and Saving Tracker, MarketWatch reported.

• A poll by the credit card firm of 1,500 U.S. shoppers revealed that 56% of consumers earning $100,000 or more annually will buy on the two big holiday shopping days, up from 46% last year. 
• Overall, consumers will spend an estimated $584 on average, up 17% from last year, the survey found.

Dive Insight:

These findings are counter to perceptions of spending trends over the four day Black Friday weekend. That’s when discounters like Walmart and big box chains such as Best Buy trot out tons of doorbuster deals geared towards shoppers on a budget.  

But American Express’ survey findings suggest that the widening economic divide between low- and high-income shoppers will be notably reflected in the consumer base buying gifts this holiday season.

"Quite simply, post-recession, the affluent are virtually the only consumers who have any discretionary income to spend," Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, which follows the luxury market, told Retail Dive.

"The middle-class American household lost $4,000 to $4,500 in income thanks to the recession, so they are much poorer coming out than when they went into the recession," she said. "Affluents, while many lost income as well, have done better in the post recession environment and thanks to their bigger paychecks overall still have some extra left over to shop once all the day-to-day expenses are paid up."

A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that the average household spending for the holidays this year would fall to $684 from $735 in 2014, The Los Angeles Times reported. And the growing pool of shoppers who earn less than $50,000, which it dubbed “survivalists,” is driving that spending decline. This year, 67% of American shoppers fall into that category, up from 63% two years ago, the report said.