Around 126 million consumers did their holiday shopping in stores this season, up from 121.4 million last year, with Small Business Saturday faring particularly well, the National Retail Federation’s annual Thanksgiving weekend survey shows. The number of online shoppers, meanwhile, declined 7 percent.
Washington, D.C.—Around 197 million consumers went shopping between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation.
That marks the second-highest number in the history of the survey, done in partnership with Prosper Insights & Analytics.
It’s just shy of last year’s record of 200.4 million and surpassed the NRF’s expectation of 183.4 million consumers shopping over the five-day period.
“We had a nice solid foundation headed into the holiday season,” NRF CEO Matt Shay said on a media call Tuesday morning.
It was a productive year for the economy, he said, with consumers’ capacity to spend underpinned by a healthy job market and wage growth outpacing inflation, though consumers were “more thorough and deliberate” in their spending patterns.
The NRF is expecting total sales for the holiday season, defined as Nov.1 to Dec. 31, to reach record levels, growing between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent year-over-year and totaling $979.5 billion to $989 billion.
The number of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers over the past eight years, as tracked by the National Retail Federation
Notably, in-store shopping surpassed online shopping in terms of number of shoppers over the long holiday weekend.
“Humans [want] to be with other humans. Shopping online is convenient, but it’s also lonely,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics, noting that people want to get out more post-pandemic.
“Holiday shopping is about family, tradition, and giving gifts to loved ones.”
A total of 126 million consumers shopped in stores over the five-day period, up from 121.4 million in 2023.
Online shoppers totaled 124.3 million, down from 134.2 million last year.
With online shopping steadily growing in popularity, Shay addressed the methodology that led NRF to this conclusion, which, he noted, may differ from other holiday surveys.
“Our surveys are of consumers and about consumers. We’re measuring the number of individual unique shoppers,” he said, while other organizations track sales.
Shay also pointed out that higher-income shoppers tend to shop online, which could lead to an increase in the total dollar amount spent but not necessarily an increase in the number of shoppers.
Black Friday is still the most popular day for both online and in-store shopping.
On Friday, 81.7 million consumers shopped in stores, up from 76.2 million last year, marking the highest level since the pandemic.
About 87.3 million consumers shopped online Friday, down from 90.6 million in 2023.
Saturday, also known as “Small Business Saturday,” saw the second-highest level of in-store shopping, with 61.1 million shoppers heading to stores.
Cyber Monday was the second-most popular day for online shopping with 64.4 million consumers, down from 73.1 million in 2023.
A majority of Cyber Monday shoppers (63 percent) used their mobile devices, up from 55 percent last year and the highest level since NRF started tracking this metric, it said.
A day-by-day look at the number of shoppers over the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday
The NRF does not share the dollar amount spent over the five-day period.
The survey is more of a “pulse check” on consumer behavior, said Rist.
“We like to focus on having actual conversations with humans and not just looking at the cash register total, to get a better understanding of the people behind the clicks and swipes,” he said.
The top shopping destination was a tie between department stores and online (42 percent), followed by grocery stores and supermarkets (40 percent), clothing and accessories stores (37 percent), and discount stores (32 percent).
This NRF graph shows what people were spending their money on over the long weekend.
According to the survey, 86 percent of shoppers bought a gift during the five-day period, spending an average of $235. That’s up from $227 last year.
The top gifts purchased were clothing and accessories (49 percent), followed by toys (31 percent), and gift cards (27 percent). Food and candy and personal care and beauty items were tied at 23 percent.
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“Consumers indicated that their purchases were driven by sales and promotions,” said Rist, noting that free shipping in particular was a deciding factor for those hesitant to make a purchase.
When comparing this year’s stats to figures from 2023, the NRF said it’s important to note that the holiday shopping period is shorter this year. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas totals 26 days, five days fewer than last year.
With a shorter window for shopping, 38 percent of respondents said they shopped sales the week before Thanksgiving.
There’s still more shopping to be done, with 52 percent saying they still have half of their shopping left to do.
Though the holiday season looks merry so far, the potential tariffs on neighbors Canada and Mexico, as well as other countries, are looming, as it would likely mean higher prices for consumers in the future.
However, it hasn’t put a damper on the holiday season just yet.
“We know consumers are very aware of and sensitive to what’s happening around them,” said Shay, particularly when it comes to affordability and pricing.
The NRF has not seen a significant number of consumers changing their behavior, due in part to the “unknowns” about where the tariff discussions will end up, he said, but noted consumers may adjust their behavior in the new year.
Rist said, “Overall, this was a very strong holiday weekend and it’s a positive indicator of where we are headed over the next few weeks.”
NRF surveyed 3,055 adults from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 for its survey.
