Black Friday Cyber Monday shopping turnout NRF

The desire for deep discounts spurred 202.9 million U.S. consumers to shop during the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber ​​Monday, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

That estimated total exceeded the major trade group’s forecast that 186.9 million people would shop during the five-day period. There was also an increase compared to the participation of 197 million shoppers in the same period last year.

Participation in shopping is the highest since the NRF began tracking five-day totals in 2017, reaching the previous highest level of 200.4 million purchases on the same days in 2023. The trade group does not estimate the total amount spent over the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

In his meeting with journalists, NRF CEO Matt Shay He described the shopping period as “the psychological beginning of the holiday”. He said the number of shoppers represented a “very, very solid start” to the season.

“One of the key factors here is that for many Americans and many families, holiday spending and holiday shopping is an important part of the budget,” he said.

Even as consumers pull back and make compromises, they may continue to shop as December approaches. Vacations are “largely an emotional purchase,” Shay said.

Retailers and economists are trying to make sense of conflicting indicators about the outlook for the country and U.S. households as they closely monitor spending during the peak shopping season. While consumer sentiment is falling and a growing number of large companies are laying off thousands of employees, retail sales data remains solid.

Even at a time of year that typically brings higher store traffic, retailers looked for ways to manage one of their biggest costs: their workforce. According to NRF, the number of holiday hires by retailers is expected to be between 265,000 and 365,000 this year; This is the lowest number of seasonal workers in at least 15 years.

Despite this, NRF predicts that U.S. consumers will continue to spend freely on gifts, decor and more. The trade group said in early November that it expected holiday spending to hit a record $1.1 trillion to $1.2 trillion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, forecasting the total to top $1 trillion for the first time.

This represents an increase of between 3.7% and 4.2% over the previous year’s holiday period. This would be a slight decrease from last year’s holiday sales growth rate of 4.3%. NRF’s estimate excludes auto dealerships, gas stations and restaurants.

Shay said Thanksgiving weekend spending gave the industry group confidence to hit that projection. By the end of Cyber ​​Monday, shoppers told NRF they had about 53% of their holiday shopping left; This is similar to a year ago.

Phil Rist, vice president of research firm Prosper Insights & Analytics, which conducts NRF’s annual survey, said in the survey that consumers are motivated to make purchases because of discounts and promotions, such as free five-day shipping and limited-time deals. Approximately 3,100 adults participated in the survey and was conducted from November 26 to November 30.

“There’s a moat around this kind of spending” for families at different income levels, said Mark Mathews, NRF’s chief economist. Financially strapped households often prioritize spending during the holidays, cutting back on other areas such as recreation and travel, he said.

He added that he expects shoppers to fill larger shopping carts this season, including non-holiday items, because shoppers “want to take advantage of these great deals they’re seeing.”

The most purchased gifts during the five-day period were clothing and accessories; 51% of consumers surveyed said they purchased products in this category, followed by toys with 32%, books and other media with 28%. and gift cards at 26%.

The survey found that although more Americans have been doing more of their Black Friday shopping online in recent years, the total of 129.5 million consumers who shopped in stores over the five days was up 3% from the previous year. Online shopping participation grew further by 9% year-on-year, with 134.9 million people shopping on retailers’ websites and apps.

Other research has also shown an increase in online spending. According to Adobe Analytics, US consumers spent a total of $14.25 billion on Cyber ​​Monday, up 7.1% from the previous year. The company analyzes direct transactions online and covers more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million individual items and 18 product categories.

Adobe said consumers spent a total of $44.2 billion online during the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber ​​Monday; This is a 7.7% increase over the previous year. A significant portion of this came from online spending on Black Friday; total spending of $11.8 billion was up 9.1% year over year as shoppers sought early deals.