The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports that the five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday saw an estimated 197 million shoppers, according to the annual survey released today, December 3, by the trade association and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
The figure is reportedly the second-highest in the NRF’s survey history after last year’s record of 200.4 million and surpassed its initial forecast of 183.4 million shoppers.
“Thanksgiving weekend retains its prominence among holiday spending events and continues to play a significant role in the holiday season for both consumers and retailers,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Even with this year’s shortened shopping period and the multitude of early sales promotions from retailers, this past weekend exceeded expectations in terms of the sheer volume of shoppers.”
The NRF said shoppers opted for in-store and online convenience throughout the weekend, with 126 million consumers reportedly shopping in-store, up from 121.4 million in 2023. Online shoppers totaled 124.3 million, down from 134.2 million shoppers last year.
“Black Friday remains the most popular day for both in-store and online shopping—81.7 million consumers shopped in stores on Black Friday, up from 76.2 million last year and the highest level since the pandemic. Approximately 87.3 million shopped online, down slightly from 90.6 million in 2023,” the NRF wrote in a media release.
The trade association for retailers said the shopping momentum continued throughout the weekend. Saturday was the second-highest day for in-store shopping, with 61.1 million consumers browsing and buying in stores.
The NRF said Cyber Monday remained the second most popular day for online shopping, attracting 64.4 million consumers compared with 73.1 million in 2023.
“The online event continues to evolve, with a majority (63 percent) of Cyber Monday online shoppers opting to use their mobile device, up from 55 percent last year and the highest since the NRF first started tracking this,” said the trade association.
The NRF reported that the top shopping destinations during Thanksgiving weekend were department stores (42 percent), online (42 percent), grocery stores and supermarkets (40 percent), clothing and accessories stores (37 percent), and discount stores (32 percent).
“Whether it’s tradition, the deals or simply an activity with friends and family, consumers continue to embrace Thanksgiving holiday weekend shopping,” offered Prosper EVP of Strategy Phil Rist. “Additional offerings like free shipping, a limited sale or promotion or a positive review helped convince most shoppers to move items from their shopping carts to the purchase finish line.”
The survey found that while consumers shopped for several items over the weekend, many focused on shopping for holiday gifts. “Consistent with last year, 86 percent of shoppers during the five-day period purchased gifts, spending $235, or $8 more than 2023, on average,” the report said.
The top gifts purchased during the Thanksgiving Weekend period included clothing and accessories (bought by 49 percent of those surveyed), toys (31 percent), gift cards (27 percent), food and candy (23 percent), and personal care or beauty items (23 percent).
“With an overall shorter window for holiday shopping this year, 38 percent of shoppers took advantage of sales specifically during the week before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend,” the data revealed. Still, at this point, 52 percent of consumers have more items to purchase on their holiday shopping lists.
NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31 and has forecasted that holiday spending is expected to reach record levels and will grow between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent over 2023, totaling $979.5 billion to $989 billion.
The NRF 2024 survey of 3,055 adult consumers was conducted between November 27 through December 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
Image courtesy Macy’s
