According to the National Retail Federation, more than 174 million Americans shopped in stores and online during the just-concluded Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday holiday weekend period.
Average spend per person over the five-day period was $335.47, with $250.78, or about 75%, going toward gifts, according to NRF. The biggest spenders were Millennials 25 to 34 years old, who dished out $419.52.
More than 64 million consumers shopped both online or in stores over the Thanksgiving weekend period, even as about 58 million shopped online only and about 51 million shopped in stores only. Multichannel shoppers spent $82 more on average than the online-only shopper, NRF noted, and $49 more on average than the in-store shopper.
The most popular day for in-store shopping was Black Friday, cited by 77 million consumers, followed by Small Business Saturday with 55 million hitting sales floors. The top two days for online shopping were Cyber Monday with more than 81 million surfing for deals and Black Friday with more than 66 million virtually browsing. As for mobile, 63% of smartphone owners used their devices to make holiday decisions and 29% used them to make actual purchases. Among those who actually made purchases, 60% said sales prompted the majority of their buying, and 48% said deals were better than earlier this season.
As for destinations, 43% of consumers shopped department stores, 42% shopped online retailers, 32% shopped electronic stores, 31% shopped clothing and accessories stores, and 31% shopped discount stores.
“All the fundamentals were in place for consumers to take advantage of incredible deals and promotions retailers had to offer,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO. “From good weather across the country to low unemployment and strong consumer confidence, the climate was right, literally and figuratively, for consumers to tackle their holiday shopping lists online and in stores.”
