Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday NRF Shopping Blockbuster

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

This expected total exceeded the major trade group’s forecast that 186.9 million people would shop during the five-day period. It also increased from last year’s demand, which reached 197 million shoppers during the same period.

The shopping turnout is the largest since the NRF began tracking the five-day total in 2017, and surpassed the previous record of 200.4 million shoppers during the same days in 2023. The trade group does not estimate the total amount spent over the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

In a call with reporters, NRF CEO Matt Shay described the shopping period as “the psychological beginning of the holiday.” He said the number of shoppers represented a “very strong 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 essential part of the budget,” he said.

Even as consumers pull back and make trade-offs, they may still be shopping as December approaches. Vacations “are a very emotional purchase,” Shay said.

Retailers and economists are closely monitoring spending during the peak shopping season while trying to make sense of conflicting indicators about the outlook for the country and American households. While consumer sentiment has declined and a growing number of major companies are laying off thousands of employees, retail sales data remains strong.

Even during the time of year that typically brings more traffic to the store, retailers have looked for ways to manage one of their highest costs: labor. Total holiday hiring by retailers is expected to reach between 265,000 and 365,000 jobs this year, the lowest number of seasonal workers in at least 15 years, according to the NRF.

Despite this, the NRF predicts that American consumers will continue to spend freely on gifts, decor and more. The trade group said in early November that it expects holiday spending to reach a record high of $1.1 trillion to $1.2 trillion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, the first time the total has reached $1 trillion.

This represents an increase of 3.7% to 4.2% from the holiday period a year ago. This would be a slight decline from last year’s holiday sales growth rate of 4.3%. The NRF forecast excludes auto dealers, gas stations and restaurants.

Thanksgiving weekend spending gives the industry group confidence that it is on track to meet that forecast, Shay said. At the end of Cyber ​​Monday, shoppers told NRF they had about 53% of their holiday purchases left over, which was similar to last year.

Consumers in the survey said they were motivated to make purchases during the five days because of sales and promotions, such as free shipping and limited-time deals, said Phil Rist, executive vice president at Prosper Insights & Analytics, the research firm that conducts the NRF’s annual survey. The survey included nearly 3,100 adults and was conducted from November 26 to 30.

“There’s a moat around this kind of spending” for families across income levels, said Mark Matthews, NRF’s chief economist. He said that families experiencing financial stress usually reduce their spending in other areas such as entertainment and travel because they prioritize holiday spending.

He added that he expects shoppers to buy larger baskets of items this season, including non-holiday items, because shoppers “want to take advantage of these great deals they see.”

The top gifts purchased during the five-day period were apparel and accessories, with 51% of consumers surveyed saying they purchased items in this category, followed by toys at 32%, and books and other media at 28%. Gift cards are at a 26% discount.

The survey found that a total of 129.5 million consumers shopped in stores over the five days, a 3% increase year over year, even as more Americans do more online shopping on Black Friday in recent years. Online shopping demand jumped further – by 9% year-on-year – with 134.9 million people shopping on retailers’ websites and apps.

Other research has indicated an increase in online spending as well. U.S. consumers spent a total of $14.25 billion online on Cyber ​​Monday, a 7.1% increase year over year, according to Adobe Analytics. The company analyzes live online transactions and covers more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million individual items and 18 product categories.

During the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber ​​Monday, Adobe said consumers spent $44.2 billion online overall — a 7.7% jump year over year. Much of that came from online spending on Black Friday, which totaled $11.8 billion and grew 9.1% year over year as shoppers sought early deals.