43% of shoppers plan to spend more this peak, Kenco finds

Kenco’s 2026 Peak Season Consumer Report found that 43% of the North American consumers it surveyed plan to spend more this peak season. That’s more than double the 20% who said so a year earlier. Another 39% expect to spend about the same, and 18% plan to spend less, down from 28% in 2025.

The bigger budgets come with bigger supply chain expectations someone has to pay for. In the survey, 73% of respondents said they consider free shipping standard when shopping online, 48% expect two-day delivery, 47% expect free returns, and 40% expect real-time tracking.

Most of the goods are already here. The Global Port Tracker that the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates released Oct. 8 shows August was likely the busiest import month of 2026, and NRF said most holiday merchandise has arrived.

Frank Loewen, senior vice president of retail operations at the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based third-party logistics provider, said the jump in planned spending can be read two ways.

This story was originally published by FreightWaves. Read the full story at FreightWaves →