The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports that an estimated 157.2 million consumers plan to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas, according to its annual survey released today by the organization and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The estimate is reportedly up from 141.9 million “Super Saturday” shoppers in 2023 and is the second-highest after the recorded 158.5 million in 2022.
“Super Saturday is one of the last opportunities during the holiday season for consumers to get the remaining items on their shopping list,” offered NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen. “With a shortened window between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, consumers will be hitting stores and shopping online to get those final gifts and to take advantage of special promotions and deals.”
The NRF suggested that with only four days between Super Saturday and December 25, 2024, shoppers will likely embrace multiple channels as they conclude their holiday shopping.
“This year, 69.5 million (44 percent) people plan to shop both in-store and online, up from 58.3 million (41 percent) in 2023,” the survey report reads. “Approximately 49.4 million (31 percent) expect to shop exclusively in-store, down from 52.8 million (37 percent) last year, while 38.2 million (24 percent) plan to shop online only, which is up from 30.8 million (22 percent) in 2023.”
The survey indicates that as of early December, consumers had purchased half (50 percent) of the items on their shopping lists, on average, while only 10 percent of respondents reported completing their holiday shopping.
“Those with at least half of their shopping left to finish said they were waiting because they were still trying to figure out what to buy (37 percent), had other financial priorities before December (27 percent) or were waiting for family members and friends to let them know what gifts they want (24 percent),” the report cited.
“Whether shoppers have planned out their shopping list or are waiting until the last minute, most still have purchases left to make before December 25,” assessed Prosper Insights & Analytics EVP of Strategy Phil Rist. “As with last year, over half of consumers expect they will complete their shopping in the week leading up to the Christmas holiday.”
Consumers appear to be on the same trend line for the last weekend before Christmas as Thanksgiving week and the Cyber 5 weekend when online sales sharply outpaced brick-and-mortar in the year-over-year sales growth tallies.
Several retailers expect the in-store shopper to re-appear over the next week, but consumers seem to have other thoughts, according to the survey report, which indicates that nearly 50 percent of shoppers plan to shop online on Super Saturday.
“The leading destinations where consumers plan to finish their shopping are online (49 percent), department stores (37 percent), discount stores (27 percent) and clothing and accessory stores (25 percent),” the survey results indicated.
The NRF said the top gifts shoppers have purchased so far this year include clothing and accessories (50 percent), toys (32 percent), gift cards (26 percent), books, video games and other media (24 percent), and personal care or beauty items (24 percent).
Like last year, most consumers (71 percent) plan to shop the week following December 25. The top reasons include taking advantage of holiday sales and promotions (48 percent), using gift cards (26 percent) and returning or exchanging unwanted gifts and holiday items (16 percent).
The NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31 and forecasts that holiday spending will reach record levels and grow between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent over 2023, totaling $979.5 billion to $989 billion.
Methodology: The survey of 7,861 adult consumers was conducted December 2-9 with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points. Read more from the NRF’s Winter Holiday Season 2024 Trends Report here.
