The five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday saw an estimated 197 million shoppers, according to the annual survey released on December by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
The figure is the second highest number in the survey’s history after last year’s record of 200.4 million, and surpassed NRF’s iexpectations 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,” NRF CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “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.”
Shoppers opted for convenience both in-store and online throughout the weekend. A total of 126 million consumers shopped 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.
Momentum carried on throughout the weekend, as Saturday was the second highest for in-store shopping when 61.1 million consumers went to browse and buy in stores.
Cyber Monday remains 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%) of Cyber Monday online shoppers opting to use their mobile device, up from 55% last year and the highest since NRF first started tracking this.
The top shopping destinations during Thanksgiving weekend were department stores (42%), online (42%), grocery stores and supermarkets (40%), clothing and accessories stores (37%) and discount stores (32%).
“Whether it’s tradition, the deals or simply an activity with friends and family, consumers continue to embrace Thanksgiving holiday weekend shopping,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “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.”
While consumers shopped for several items over the weekend, many focused on picking up holiday gifts. Consistent with last year, 86% of shoppers during the five-day period purchased gifts, spending $235 — or $8 more than 2023 — on average.
The top gifts purchased during this period included clothing and accessories (bought by 49% of those surveyed), toys (31%), gift cards (27%), food and candy (23%) and personal care or beauty items (23%).
With an overall shorter window for holiday shopping this year, 38% of shoppers took advantage of sales specifically during the week before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Still, consumers have plenty of items remaining to check off their lists with half (52%) of their shopping left to do at this point.
NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 and has forecast that holiday spending is expected to reach record levels and will grow between 2.5% and 3.5% over 2023, totaling $979.5 billion to $989 billion.
