The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Analytics survey of 7,861 consumers says 157.2 million people will shopping on the last Saturday before Christmas, up from 141.9 million in 2023. This is second only to the 158.5 million shoppers in 2022.
“Super Saturday is one of the last opportunities during the holiday season for consumers to get the rest of the items on their shopping lists,” said Katherine Cullen, NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights. “With a shortened window between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, consumers will be hitting the stores and shopping online to get those final gifts and take advantage of special promotions and deals.”
The NRF said shoppers will use multiple channels to complete their holiday shopping in only four days.
“This year, 69.5 million (44%) plan to shop both in-store and online, up from 58.3 million (41%) in 2023,” the survey report said. “About 49.4 million (31%) expect to shop exclusively in-store, down from 52.8 million (37%) last year, while 38.2 million (24%) plan to shop exclusively online, up from 30.8 million (22%) in 2023.”
The survey shows that as of early December, consumers had purchased half of the items on their shopping lists, while only 10 percent had completed their holiday shopping.
“Those with at least half of their shopping to do said they were waiting because they were still trying to figure out what to buy (37%), had other financial priorities before December (27%) or were waiting for family and friends to tell them what gifts they wanted (24%),” the report said.
“Whether shoppers have their shopping list planned out or are waiting until the last minute, most still have purchases to make before Dec. 25,” said Phil Rist, EVP of Strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics. “As was the case last year, more than half of consumers expect to complete their shopping in the week leading up to the holiday.”
Consumers appear to be on the same trend line for the final weekend before Christmas as they were for the week of Thanksgiving and the Cyber 5 weekend, when online sales far outpaced brick-and-mortar sales in year-over-year sales growth tallies.
Several retailers expect a return of in-store shoppers next week, but consumers seem to have other thoughts, according to the survey report, which indicates that nearly 50 percent of shoppers plan to shop online on Super Saturday.
“The leading destinations where consumers plan to complete their shopping are online (49%), department stores (37%), discount stores (27%) and apparel and accessories stores (25%),” the survey results said.
The NRF said the top gifts shoppers have purchased so far this year include clothing and accessories (50%); toys (32%); gift cards (26%); books, video games and other media (24%); and personal care or beauty items (24%).
As they did last year, most consumers plan to shop the week after Christmas. Top reasons include taking advantage of holiday sales and promotions, using gift cards, and returning or exchanging unwanted gifts.
The NRF defines the holiday season as running from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 and forecasts that holiday spending will reach a record level of $979.5 to $989 billion by 2024.
Methodology: The survey was conducted on Dec. 2-9 with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points. Read more from the NRF’s 2024 Winter Holiday Trends Report online.
