164M+ Consumers Plan to Shop Over Thanksgiving Weekend, Cyber Monday

The numbers include Small Business Saturday and Sunday, as well as Black Friday.

November 15, 2017

WASHINGTON – The biggest shopping weekend of the year is right around the corner and 69% of Americans—an estimated 164 million people—are planning to shop or considering shopping during Thanksgiving weekend, according to the annual survey released this week by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. For the first time in survey history, the numbers include Cyber Monday in addition to Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Sunday.

“This year, we updated our survey to more accurately capture consumer behavior throughout the entire shopping weekend—Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay, in a press release. “Consumers will benefit from competitive promotions both in stores and online lasting the course of the weekend, allowing them to find the best gifts at the lowest prices.”

Of those considering shopping the long holiday weekend, the survey found that 20% plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day (32 million) but Black Friday will remain the busiest day with 70% planning to shop then (115 million). A substantial 43% are expected to shop on Saturday (71 million), with 76% saying they will do so specifically to support Small Business Saturday. On Sunday, 21% expect to shop (35 million) and 48% are expected to shop on Cyber Monday (78 million).

According to the survey, 56% of Americans have already started their holiday shopping, but most still have a long way to go. Only 12% of consumers have completed at least half of their shopping, while only 2% have finished all of their holiday shopping.

“While the utility of the weekend will continue to draw shoppers into stores and online to efficiently and inexpensively check off their lists, we’re also seeing consumers report tradition and the opportunity to partake in holiday cheer as reasons for shopping, too,” Prosper Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow said. “By now, people know what sort of deals they can expect to see during the weekend and are budgeting for them accordingly, and in many cases expertly.”

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