Anticipating close to 160 million holiday shoppers to flock to retail stores on Super Saturday, as predicted by the National Retail Federation.
The holiday shopping season is in full swing, and according to a joint report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, more consumers than ever before are planning to finish their holiday shopping on Super Saturday, the last full weekend before Christmas Day.
This year, Super Saturday falls eight days before Christmas, and it's expected to be the busiest yet, with more than 158 million consumers expected to shop. About half of these consumers have already completed their holiday shopping, but the remaining half are holding off, perhaps due to the extended weekend shopping opportunities before Christmas Day and the end of Hanukkah.
Of those consumers who are yet to finish their shopping, 37% plan to do so at department stores, 27% at discounters, 19% at grocers, and 24% at clothing and accessories stores. Interestingly, an almost equal number of consumers plan to shop online and in person, with 47% planning to finish their shopping online and 72.2 million consumers planning to shop both online and in person.
Phil Rist, Prosper executive vice president of strategy, expects this extension to be a result of the NRF's research. However, the search results do not specify which retail companies, such as Macy's, Shopify, or Amazon, intend to extend their last Christmas sales into the weekend after December 25 to encourage undecided buyers to make purchases.
The top gifts so far are clothing, toys, gift cards, books and other media, and food or candy. Another interesting trend is the increase in giving experiences, like concert or sporting event tickets, gym memberships, or art classes, which is up 23% from last year.
Retailers are prepared to help shoppers fulfill their last-minute purchases for a memorable holiday season. The holiday season, as defined by the NRF, extends from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, and the NRF forecasts healthy year-over-year sales growth of between 6% and 8%, totaling between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion.
In the week following Christmas Day, consumers are expected to maximize holiday sales, use gift cards, and return or exchange unwanted gifts. This year, 10 million more consumers than last year are expected to shop beyond the traditional end of the holiday season, with 70% of holiday shoppers planning to do so.
Nordstrom CEO Erik Nordstrom speculated that consumers might be holding off because there are extra weekend shopping days before Christmas Day and the end of Hanukkah. Whatever the reason, it's clear that this holiday shopping season is shaping up to be a busy one.
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