NRF forecasts 164 million shoppers between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Nov 15, 2017

The National Retail Federation released its annual holiday shopping survey, reporting that 164 million consumers will shop between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. 43% will specifically support Small Business Saturday.

If consumer numbers appear strong, it is because the NRF changed its methodology to include Cyber Monday this year as consumers are increasingly looking online for their holiday shopping. Almost half of all customers will shop on Cyber Monday, accounting for 78 million consumers.

NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said Cyber Monday needed to be included in the entire shopping weekend to more accurately reflect consumer habits. Shay said, “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 consumers studied, 20% plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday will see the busiest day with 115 million customers shopping, representing 70% of all holiday shoppers. 71 million consumers will specifically shop on Saturday to support small businesses.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) partnered with Prosper Analytics & Insights to conduct the study. Prosper Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow said, "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”.

Goodfellow said the study revealed consumers already know what types of deals they can expect for the weekend and are budgeting accordingly. She also said Gen Z will be out in store over the weekend because those consumers see "in-store shopping as a valuable way to connect with others, be it friends, family or store associates at their favorite retailers.”

The survey pooled shopper insights from 7,400 consumers from October 31 through November 7.