The National Retail Federation reported a record 200.4 million consumers shopped during the five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, surpassing last year’s record of 196.7 million.
The annual Thanksgiving Day-through-Cyber Monday shopping survey from NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics demonstrated results surpassed an initial expectation of 182 million shoppers.
Over the weekend, 121.4 million consumers visited physical retail locations, a figure close to the 122.7 million in 2022. Online shoppers totaled 134.2 million, up from 130.2 million in 2022.
Black Friday continued its streak as the most popular day for in-store shopping, with 76.2 million consumers opting to visit brick-and-mortar locations, up from 72.9 million in 2022. About 59 million consumers shopped in stores during the Saturday after Thanksgiving, down from 63.4 million in the year earlier. On par with last year, 78% of patrons shopped specifically for Small Business Saturday. Black Friday was also the most popular day for online shopping, continuing a trend that began in 2019, NRF pointed out. Roughly 90.6 million consumers shopped digitally on Black Friday, up from 87.2 million in 2022. About 73 million consumers shopped online on Cyber Monday, down slightly from 77 million in the previous year.
About 44 million consumers used their home desktop or laptop to shop online on Cyber Monday, on par with 2022, NRF determined. Another 40.5 million shopped online using mobile devices, down from a record 45.7 million in 2022 but still above pre-pandemic levels.
Top destinations for Thanksgiving weekend shoppers were online platforms, at 44%; grocery stores and supermarkets, at 42%; department stores, at 40%; clothing and accessories stores, at 36%; and electronics stores, at 29%.
Thanksgiving weekend saw 95% of shoppers making holiday-related purchases, down from 97% last year but in line with historical levels, NRF maintained. Consumers spent $321.41 on average on such items, similar to the $325.44 spent in 2022, with 70%, or $226.55, going to gifts.
Top gifts bought during the five-day period were clothing and accessories, purchased by 49%; toys, 31%; gift cards, 25%; books, video games and other media, 23%; and personal care or beauty items, 23%.
Consumers reported, on average, 55% of their Thanksgiving weekend purchasing was specifically driven by sales and promotions, up from 52% in 2022. Another 31% said limited-time sales and promotions prompted them to make a purchase even if they had been hesitant about it, up from 29% last year. Pre-Black Friday, 55% of consumers took advantage of early holiday sales and promotions, NRF indicated, with 35% shopping specifically in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.
As of Thanksgiving weekend, 85% of consumers had started holiday shopping, and 48% were about halfway done with holiday shopping by the weekend, numbers consistent with the previous year.
NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31, and it previously forecast that holiday spending will reach record levels and grow between 3% and 4%, $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion.
“The five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday represents some of the busiest shopping days of the year and reflects the continued resilience of consumers and strength of the economy,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Shoppers exceeded our expectations with a robust turnout. Retailers large and small were prepared to deliver safe, convenient and affordable shopping experiences with the products and services consumers needed, and at great prices.”
Prosper’s Phil Rist, executive vice president, strategy, added, “Over the course of the weekend, consumers were able to find great deals on holiday gifts and other items they wanted. This year is the first time personal care and beauty items were among the top five most popular gifts purchased over Thanksgiving weekend, with nearly one-quarter of shoppers purchasing these items.”
