Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Attracts More than 151 Million Buyers
November 30, 15(IDEX Online News) – More than 151 million people went shopping over the Thanksgiving Weekend, according to the National Retail Federation’s Thanksgiving Weekend Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Average spending per person over the weekend totaled $299.60, with an average of $229.56 specifically going towards gifts, or 76.6 percent of total purchases. Those under 35 were most likely to shop over the weekend. Specifically, 25-34 year olds spent an average of $425.08 on all holiday purchases, with 69.3 percent of that going towards gifts ($294.44).
Of those who shopped in stores over the weekend, 72.8 percent (74.2 million shoppers) said they shopped on Black Friday, the biggest day of the weekend; another 34.6 million (34%) said they shopped on Thanksgiving Day and 46.8 million (45.9%) shopped on Saturday.
“We recognize the Thanksgiving weekend shopping experience is much different than it used to be as just as many people want that unique, exclusive online deal as they do that in-store promotion,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. “It is clear that the age-old holiday tradition of heading out to stores with family and friends is now equally matched in the new tradition of looking online for holiday savings opportunities.”
Among digital bargain hunters, the survey found 41 million people (39.8%) said they shopped online on Thanksgiving Day and 75.3 million (73.1%) shopped online on Black Friday.
More than half (53.8%) of 18-24 year olds and six in 10 (62.1%) 25-34 year olds said they shopped in stores over the weekend, compared to the 41.6 percent of other adults surveyed, and 57 percent of both age groups said they shopped online at some point, compared to 42 percent of average adults polled.
“Millennials have changed the game when it comes to Thanksgiving weekend shopping, making sure they were out early and often over the entire weekend in order to tackle their gift lists as well as their self-gifting lists,” said Prosper’s Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow.
According to the survey, 56.7 percent of smartphone owners used their phone to research products, purchase holiday items, check in-store availability and other mobile shopping activities; 57.7 percent of tablet owners used their device to browse holiday deals and purchase items.