More than 166 million US consumers plan to make holiday purchases over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, a rise of nearly 8 million people from 2021, according to a National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics survey.
The increase is also the highest estimate since the NRF began tracking the data in 2017, it said last week. More than two-thirds of respondents intended to shop during the period, with 59% of those indicating they would venture out because the deals were too good to pass up. Just over a quarter of the sample noted it was tradition to shop over the holiday, while 22% said it was something to do.
“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” said NRF CEO Matthew Shay. “We are optimistic that retail sales will remain strong in the weeks ahead.”
Black Friday will be the most popular shopping day during the period, with 69% planning to buy then. Of those, 67% expect to shop in brick-and-mortar stores, up from 64% in 2021. Some 38% will purchase on Cyber Monday.
The clothing and accessories category — which includes jewelry — is the most popular gift choice, picked by 55%, the NRF noted. That was followed by gift cards; toys; a division that includes books, music, movies and video games; and food and candy.
Total holiday sales for the November-to-December period will grow 6% to 8% year on year to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion, the NRF forecast. The NRF surveyed 7,719 adult consumers from November 1 to 8.
Image: A person shopping for holiday gifts. (Shutterstock)
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