A survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics revealed nearly 142 million consumers plan to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas 2023: Super Saturday, December 23.
More consumers plan to purchase last-minute gifts and other holiday items in-person, the survey suggested: 37% of Super Saturday shoppers, a total of 53 million, said they expect they will shop exclusively in stores this year, up from about 44 million in 2022. Then in 2023, 58 million, or 41% of the total, plan to shop both online and in stores with 22%, or about 31 million, planning to shop exclusively online.
By early December, holiday shoppers had picked up 49% of the items on their lists, the survey indicated. For those who still have more than half of their shopping remaining, 36% said they were still figuring out what to buy. Consumers also may be waiting for better deals. In a November survey, 85% of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers said they expected deals during the rest of the holiday season to be the same or better than available around Turkey Day.
Popular destinations for last minute shopping include online, at 49%; department stores, at 38%; discount stores, at 28%; clothing and accessories stores, at 26%; and grocery stores, at 19%.
Top gifts so far in the 2023 holiday season, the survey revealed, are clothing, at 50%; toys, at 34%; gift cards, at 27%; books and other media, at 24%; and personal care or beauty items 23%. Holiday shopping will continue through the end of December and into early January, according to NRF. Among consumers responding to the survey, 70% said they planned to shop the week following Christmas. The top reasons consumers shop then are to take advantage of holiday sales and promotions, at 48%; use gift cards, at 26%; and return or exchange unwanted gifts and holiday items; at 16%.
“This year Super Saturday is truly aligned for last-minute shoppers,” said Phil Rist, Prosper Insights & Analytics executive vice president of strategy. “A majority of consumers also plan on purchasing their last gift in the week leading up to Christmas.”
