Nov 30, 2018

Retail industry has record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend

More than 165 million Americans shopped either in stores or online through Thanksgiving weekend, surpassing the 164 million who had said they would shop in a consumer sentiment survey conducted ahead of the holiday, the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics reported.

Spending estimates from various groups have indicated that Thanksgiving weekend was record-breaking for the retail industry, consistent with NRF’s holiday forecast of up to a 4.8 percent increase in holiday spending over the months of November and December. In addition, purchases over the long weekend showed new trends coming from younger consumers, with Gen Zers and younger millennials aged 18-24 spending an average $149 on holiday purchases for themselves, more than any other generation.

Top purchases over the weekend included apparel (bought by 57 percent of those surveyed), toys (34 percent), books and video games (29 percent), electronics (26 percent) and gift cards (20 percent).

With more shopping days before Christmas this year, consumers are taking their time to finalize their holiday gift purchases. On average, consumers have more than half (56 percent) of their holiday shopping left to do. Many consumers (92 percent) believe that the strong deals seen over Thanksgiving weekend will continue or improve throughout the rest of the season.

Top shopping destinations during the weekend included department stores (42 percent), online retailers (38 percent), apparel stores (30 percent), grocery stores (30 percent), discount stores (29 percent) and electronics stores (27 percent).

The survey, which asked 3,058 consumers about Thanksgiving weekend and Cyber Monday shopping plans, was conducted November 24-25 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.