151 mn Americans shopped on Thanksgiving weekend: NRF

30 Nov '15

4 min read

American holiday shoppers were on their feet and online early over the Thanksgiving weekend as millions of people grabbed their friends and family and made the trek to their favorite stores, or sat down with their lists ready for some serious online shopping, National Retail Federation said in a press release.

According to the NRF's Thanksgiving Weekend Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, more than 151 million people said they shopped either in stores and/or online over the weekend. This compares to the 136 million, who in a mid-November survey, said they planned to shop over the weekend. Specifically, nearly 102 million people say they shopped in stores over the Thanksgiving weekend, and more than 103 million say they shopped online.

Average spending per person over the weekend totaled $299.60, with an average of $229.56 specifically going towards gifts, or 76.6 per cent of total purchases.Those under 35 were most likely to shop over the weekend. Specifically, 25-34 year olds spent an average of $425.08 on all holiday purchases, with 69.3 per cent of that going towards gifts ($294.44).

Additionally, as of November 28, 77.6 per cent of those polled said they had at least started their holiday shopping.

“We recognize the Thanksgiving weekend shopping experience is much different than it used to be as just as many people want that unique, exclusive online deal as they do that in-store promotion,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “It is clear that the age-old holiday tradition of heading out to stores with family and friends is now equally matched in the new tradition of looking online for holiday savings opportunities.

“Retail is in the middle of an incredible revolution and evolution. As a result, NRF evolved what we have traditionally done in terms of examining the holiday weekend shopper to reflect these changing times. As the shopping environment changes so too must our analysis of it,” Shay said.

Of those who shopped in stores over the weekend, 72.8 per cent – 74.2 million shoppers – said they shopped on Black Friday, the biggest day of the weekend; another 34.6 million (34 per cent) said they shopped on Thanksgiving Day and 46.8 million (45.9 per cent) shopped on Saturday.

It is clear holiday shoppers were in the mood to find great online deals, too. Among digital bargain hunters, the survey found 41 million people (39.8 per cent) said they shopped online on Thanksgiving Day and 75.3 million (73.1 per cent) shopped online on Black Friday.

“Holiday shopping started well in advance of Thanksgiving weekend this year, but there's no question that people were still incredibly eager to get their hands on the deals that retailers were offering on electronics, apparel, toys and even small appliances,” said Prosper's Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow. “The ease of online shopping through mobile devices now lets millions of people research what they want as well as make timely purchases any day of the weekend – a win-win for both retailers and shoppers.”

More National Retail Federation News... More Apparel/Garments News - United States Of America...