Black Friday to Drive U.S. Shoppers

An estimated 137.4 million shoppers will turn out online, in-store this weekend.

Although nearly 58 percent of holiday shoppers have already begun their seasonal shopping, millions are expected to turn out for the biggest holiday shopping weekend of the year.

According to the National Retail Federation’s preliminary Thanksgiving Weekend survey, an estimated 137.4 million shoppers (59 percent of Americans) definitely will or may shop on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and/or Sunday, similar to the 58.7 percent who planned to last year.

“Black Friday remains one of the busiest shopping days of the year, with Americans planning to take advantage of aggressive in-store and digital promotions over the entire holiday weekend,” says Matthew Shay, president and chief executive officer, NRF. “Retailers know consumers are spreading out their holiday budgets to shop throughout the season. While there’s no doubt of the incredible promotions offered during the weekend, the holiday shopping season is long and consumers will look for and expect great deals down to the very last minute.”

Of those who plan to or are anticipating they will shop online or in-store over the weekend, most consumers will shop on Black Friday (74 percent, the same as in 2015), though 21 percent say they will take advantage of retailers’ Thanksgiving Day deals. Although Saturday is often overlooked because it falls between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the day will see 47 percent of those surveyed in stores. On Sunday, 24 percent expect to shop.

The survey found that 36 percent of consumers say they plan to shop online on Cyber Monday, up from the 34 percent in 2015, although this is not included in the 137.4 million total for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Additionally, according to the survey, 77 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 76 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds plan to shop over the weekend, and as with shoppers overall, Black Friday is the day most Millennial weekend shoppers plan to shop (86 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 78 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds).