ICSC Report: 78 Percent Of Consumers Shopped Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend

According to the ICSC Post-Thanksgiving Weekend Report,* 75 percent of U.S. adults, 201.5 million, shopped or spent money during the five days beginning on Thanksgiving and ending Cyber Monday.

Of the respondents, 66 percent spent money at a physical store during the holiday weekend, up 5 percent from last year. Nearly half, 48 percent of respondents, made purchases with Amazon or other online retailers.

Seventy-three percent of respondents said they visited a shopping center during the Thanksgiving weekend to shop or for other activities and services. Fifty-four percent shopped with small or locally-owned businesses.

Shoppers cited the ability to physically see or touch the merchandise (50 percent), browsing for new gift ideas (35 percent) and a preference for in-store shopping (34 percent) as primary reasons for visiting a store. Of those who shopped online, the largest segment (63 percent) cited convenience, while half noted lower prices or better promotions.

Consistent with recent years, respondents that purchased merchandise during the holiday weekend did so at discount department stores (61 percent), while restaurants and dining moved into the second spot (36 percent) and traditional department stores dropped to third (31 percent).

Most of the respondent’s spending occurred on Black Friday or 38.7 percent of their total weekend spending.

Cyber Monday accounted for 18.3 percent of respondent spending. Half agreed they shopped just as much, or more, over the weekend as they have in past years, and 67 percent agreed that the deals during the weekend remained important for their holiday shopping.

Tom McGee, president and CEO, ICSC, said, “The early start to the shopping season didn’t stop people from shopping on Black Friday and throughout the holiday weekend, including Cyber Monday, and consumers indicated they still have more shopping to do. Discount department stores saw particularly strong traffic, and in-store shopping overall was positive as deals extended across the weekend. Not surprisingly, shoppers seek the best prices and deals and seem willing to wait until they can find them.”

*The ICSC Post-Thanksgiving Weekend Report includes two surveys conducted online on November 25 and 28 with a demographically representative U.S. sample of 1005 and 1008, respectively.