From Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, more than 165 million Americans shopped in stores and online, surpassing the 164 million shoppers predicted by the National Retail Federation (NRF). This “after-weekend” NRF survey even revealed some new shopping patterns. (Note: This is our last post related to Thanksgiving weekend holiday spending. We will post another round-up after New Year’s Day.
“For several years, we’ve been talking about the dynamic nature of the retail industry and the speed of change necessary to meet the consumer demand,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. This year’s research clearly shows that the investments made by retailers are paying off in a big way.”This is a very strong emotional start to the holiday season and a positive indicator of where we are headed over the next month.”
$313.29 | Average amount spent on gifts and other holiday items over the five-day period
$217.37 (69%) | Spent on gifts
$413.o5 | Average amount spent by Millennials and Gen Xers (35-44 years old)
89 million | Number of people who shopped both online and in-store.
40% | Year-over-year percentage growth in the number of people shopped both online and in-store.
$93 | The average amount by which a multichannel shopper outspent an average single-channel shopper.
Angie Rigato browses at the stores in the Wynwood Shops as the holiday shopping season begins in earnest on November 27, 2018 in Miami, Florida (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Purchases made over the long weekend showed
new trends coming from younger consumers
“Gen Zers and younger millennials aged 18-24 spent
an average on holiday purchases for themselves, more than any other generation.”
Matthew Shay, NRF CEO
Pedro Roa (R) helps Pierre-Gabriel Daviot as he shops in the Nomad Tribe Store in Miami, Fla.. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Top five-day weekend purchases
From Thursday (Thanksgiving) through Monday (Cyber Monday)
57% | Apparel
34% | Toys
29% | Books and video games
26% | Electronics
20% | Gift cards
Most popular shopping days
67.4 million | Cyber Monday shoppers
67 million | Black Friday shoppers (most in-store shoppers)
47.4 million | Small Business Saturday shoppers
Smartphone purchases
66% | Percentage of smartphone owners who used their mobile devices to make holiday decisions, up from 63 percent last year
Top destinations during the shopping weekend
42% | Department stores
38% | Online retailers
30% | Apparel stores
30% | Grocery stores
29% | Discount stores
27% | Electronics stores
Still, a long way to go
56% | The average percentage of holiday shoppers have left to do
92% | Percentage of shoppers who believe that the strong deals seen over Thanksgiving weekend will continue or improve throughout the rest of the season
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