The five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday saw an estimated 197 million active shoppers, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The total is second highest in the poll’s history after last year’s record of 200.4 million.
The number of consumers looking to purchase over the period this year surpassed NRF’s expectations of 183.4 million shoppers. A total of 126 million consumers shopped in-store, up from 121.4 million in 2023. Online shoppers totaled 124.3 million this year, down from 134.2 million in the 2023 period.
Black Friday remained the most popular day for in-store and online shopping, with 81.7 million consumers visiting stores, up from 76.2 million last year and the highest total since the pandemic, NRF maintained. Even more shoppers engaged digitally, as 87.3 million consumers shopped online, down slightly from 90.6 million in 2023. In-store shopping momentum carried from Black Friday to the following Saturday, with 61.1 million shopping, the second highest total for that day on the Thanksgiving weekend.
By shopper, Cyber Monday was the second most popular day for online engagement, attracting 64.4 million consumers, versus 73.1 million in 2023. As to means, 63% of Cyber Monday online shoppers opted to use their mobile devices, up from 55% in the 2023 period and the highest proportion since NRF first started tracking the metric.
Department stores led Thanksgiving weekend among physical and virtual retail destinations, as 42% of consumers tapped the channel; online sites also were shopped by 42%, NRF noted. Next were grocery stores and supermarkets at 40%, clothing and accessories stores at 37% and discount stores at 32%.
Year over year, 86% of shoppers during Thanksgiving weekend purchased gifts, spending $235 on average, $8 more than in 2023. Top gifts purchased during the weekend included clothing and accessories, purchased by 49% of survey respondents followed by toys at 31%, gift cards at 27%, food and candy at 23%, and personal care and beauty items at 23%.
With a shorter period from Cyber Monday until Christmas in 2024 and many retailers’ incorporating the days preceding Thanksgiving into week-long promotional events, 38% of shoppers took advantage of the extended sales period established. Looking ahead, 52% of survey respondents said they have shopping left to do, NRF indicated.
For its purposes, NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31 and has forecast spending to reach record levels in the period, growing between 2.5% and 3.5% from 2023 to reach between $979.5 billion to $989 billion.
“Thanksgiving weekend retains its prominence among holiday spending events and continues to play a significant role in the holiday season for both consumers and retailers,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Even with this year’s shortened shopping period and the multitude of early sales promotions from retailers, this past weekend exceeded expectations in terms of the sheer volume of shoppers.”
