Super Tuesday continues to be the biggest shopping day of the year. Image credit: NRF
Super Tuesday will continue to be the biggest shopping day of the year with an estimated 147.8 million U.S. consumers expected to participate, up from 134.3 million last year. The number of people shopping on Super Saturday will cover both in-store and online activity. The estimate compares with the 189.6 million unique shoppers over the full five-day Thanksgiving weekend, according to an annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. “While many people started holiday shopping early, those who waited until Thanksgiving weekend are feeling the pressure due to the limited number of days this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” NRF president/CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “But there is still time to catch up,” he said. “The last Saturday before Christmas has become the biggest shopping day of the year, and we expect an impressive turnout by procrastinators and those who just want to take advantage of really good deals.” The number of people shopping on Super Saturday will cover both in-store and online activity Retail detail As of early December, 86 percent of holiday consumers had started shopping and they had completed 52 percent of their purchasing for the season, NRF said. Last year at the same point, 88 percent of consumers had started and had completed 58 percent of their holiday purchases on average, the association said. In 2013, the last time there were 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, consumers had completed 50 percent of their purchases at the same point. For those who had at least half of their shopping left, 41 percent were still deciding what to buy, 28 percent were waiting for family and friends to tell them what they wanted, and 26 percent were holding off for the best deals, per the study. More than half (56 percent) of holiday shoppers plan to buy their last gift during the week before Christmas, and 62 percent are expected to shop on Super Saturday. “Most of us are guilty of having that one last gift we need to buy,” said Phil Rist, Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy, in a statement. “Men and younger consumers continue to be the biggest procrastinators and are expected to turn out in force on Super Saturday.”
When holiday shoppers will buy their last gift. Source: NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics