US' Thanksgiving weekend records 17% surge of in-store shoppers: NRF

A record 196.7 million Americans shopped in stores and online during the five-day holiday shopping period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. The total number of shoppers grew by nearly 17 million from 2021 and is the highest figure since NRF first started tracking this data in 2017, as per the survey.

More than three-quarters (76 per cent) of consumers said they shopped over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, up from 70 per cent in 2021. The numbers shattered NRF’s initial expectations by more than 30 million.

Specifically, Black Friday continues to reign as the most favoured day for in-store shopping. Approximately 72.9 million consumers opted for a more traditional in-person shopping experience, up from 66.5 million in 2021. The Saturday after Thanksgiving followed suit, with 63.4 million in-store shoppers, up from 51 million last year. A majority (77 per cent) of Saturday shoppers indicated they shopped specifically for Small Business Saturday.

Black Friday was also the most popular day for online shopping, continuing a trend that started in 2019. Roughly 87.2 million consumers shopped online during Black Friday this year, in line with 2021. Similar to last year, 77 million people shopped online on Cyber Monday.

The top destinations for Thanksgiving weekend shoppers were online (42 per cent), department stores (42 per cent), clothing and accessories stores (36 per cent), and discount stores (32 per cent).

Consumers spent an average of $325.44 on holiday-related purchases over the course of the weekend, up from $301.27 in 2021. Of that amount, most ($229.21) was directed specifically toward gifts. The top gifts purchased were clothing and accessories (bought by 50 per cent of those surveyed).

The vast majority of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers (90 per cent) felt the deals were the same or better than last year.

While early deals and sales did entice some to shop before mid-November, many still save the bulk of their shopping for November and December. More than half (56 per cent) of shoppers said they took advantage of early holiday sales or promotions before Thanksgiving this year. One-quarter (24 per cent) did so before November 16 and another 36 per cent shopped in the week leading up to Thanksgiving (November 16–23).

NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31 and has forecast that retail sales will grow between 6 per cent and 8 per cent over 2021 to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion.

The survey of 3,326 adult consumers was conducted during November 23–27, 2022, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)