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Here’s What NRF Is Forecasting for the Holiday SeasonSurveysNov 20, 2023
NRF Expects Record Number of Shoppers Over Holiday Weekend
Though consumers have started holiday shopping earlier, the organization still predicts a busy Thanksgiving weekend for retailers.
The National Retail Federation predicted that a record-breaking 182 million consumers will shop both online and in-store over the holiday weekend.
Washington—The National Retail Federation is expecting a record-breaking Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
An estimated 182 million shoppers will hit stores and online sales from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the annual survey released Thursday by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
That’s 15.7 million more people than last year and the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017.
“The Thanksgiving holiday weekend marks some of the busiest shopping days of the year, as consumers enjoy the tradition of shopping for the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
“Retailers have been preparing for months for this occasion. They are stocked and ready to help customers find the gifts and other items they want at great prices during the entire holiday season.”
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An estimated 182 million shoppers will hit stores and online sales from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the annual survey released Thursday by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
That’s 15.7 million more people than last year and the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017.
“The Thanksgiving holiday weekend marks some of the busiest shopping days of the year, as consumers enjoy the tradition of shopping for the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
“Retailers have been preparing for months for this occasion. They are stocked and ready to help customers find the gifts and other items they want at great prices during the entire holiday season.”
The survey found that nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of holiday shoppers plan to shop during the five-day holiday weekend, up from 69 percent in pre-pandemic 2019.
The top reasons for shopping this weekend are “the deals are too good to pass up” at 61 percent and “tradition” at 28 percent.
The most popular day to shop is still Black Friday with 130.7 million people (72 percent) planning to shop that day, up from 69 percent last year.
In the No.2 spot is Cyber Monday with 71.1 million people (39 percent) expected to shop that day, slightly higher than last year (38 percent).
As in past years, shoppers are getting an early start on their holiday gift lists this year with 59 percent of those surveyed saying they already began shopping as of early November.
On average, shoppers said they already completed one-quarter of their planned purchases.
“Early shopping is a trend we have been tracking for several years, and this year, there is evidence the deals and promotions from October resonated with consumers,” said Prosper Insights & Analytics Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist.
“More than 40 percent of shoppers say they took advantage of retailers’ October sales to shop specifically for holiday gifts, décor and other seasonal items.”
Gifts are the purchases shoppers are most likely to have made so far, the survey found, with nearly half (48 percent) stating they’ve already bought gifts for others, while 18 percent have bought decorations and 17 percent have bought a gift for themselves.
Though early shopping has been trending in recent years, the holiday weekend is still expected to include some of the busiest shopping days of the year, NRF said.
In its holiday forecast released earlier this month, NRF said it expects spending to reach record levels this November and December, growing between 3 to 4 percent to a total of $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion.
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