Consumer Behavior

Consumers hit stores big time during long Thanksgiving weekend

Photo by istock.com

December 6, 2022

Of the 196.7 million U.S. holiday shoppers during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, nearly 123 million hit a store, a 17% spike from approximately 105 million last year.

The record-setting in-store activity reveals that consumers "cherish the tradition of in-store holiday shopping with friends and loved ones," said Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation president and CEO, in a press release on the five-day shopping data results from the NRF.

The data was revealed in a survey conducted by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The total number of shoppers grew by nearly 17 million over last year and is the highest figure since the industry group began tracking data in 2017.

The numbers shattered NRF's initial expectations by more than 30 million.

The number of online shoppers also grew, but at a slower pace. This year saw 130.2 million online shoppers, a 2% increase over 2021.

Black Friday continues to reign as the most favored 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%) 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. A record 59% of online Cyber Monday shoppers used their mobile device, up from 52% in 2021.

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.

NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 and has forecast retail sales will grow between 6% and 8% over 2021 to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion.