Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Brick-and-mortar stores saw a significant gain, with 126 million Americans shopping in stores this year compared to 121.4 million in 2023.
Ecommerce merchants saw a dip, from 134.2 million shoppers last year to 124.3 million during the holiday shopping weekend that just ended.
Fewer online shoppers, however, does not suggest fewer dollars were spent online. On Black Friday this year, the most heavily shopped day of the weekend, online sales rose 14.6 percent over Black Friday 2022, while in-store sales were up a modest 0.7 percent, according to preliminary insights from Mastercard SpendPulse.
"Eighty percent of consumers are still being drawn to stores, and there was a lot of traffic over the weekend," said Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute. Overall, retail sales were up 3.1 percent for the holiday weekend relative to 2023, Meyer said. SpendPulse measures spending with all payment types, both online and in-store, she added. Mastercard is predicting year-over-year retail sales growth of 3.2 percent between Nov. 1 and Dec. 25.
"Black Friday was a good indicator of how the holiday season is positively shaping up," Meyer said. "Our real-time insights show that consumers are comfortably in the gift-giving spirit as price reductions and deals occur across sectors, supporting budgets for holiday shopping." "I think it was a good start for holiday sales," said Steve Sadove, senior advisor to Mastercard.
Sadove, who appeared with Meyer at a Dec. 3 press briefing, is also a former CEO at Saks and in that position served as stint as chairman of the NRF. "We're seeing choiceful consumers," Sadove said, adding "They're looking for value."
"We're experiencing a healthy holiday season," Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO, said in a call with reporters.
Momentum continued throughout the weekend, as Saturday was the second highest for in-store shopping when 61.1 million consumers went to browse and buy in stores. "We're seeing a resurgence of in-store shopping this year," said Shay.
A survey by Prosper Insights & Analytics, conducted on behalf of NRF, also revealed that 63 percent of consumers shopped using their mobile devices.
"Whether it's tradition, the deals or simply an activity with friends and family, consumers continue to embrace Thanksgiving holiday weekend shopping," said Phil Rist, vice president of strategy at Prosper.
While consumers shopped for a variety of items over the weekend, many focused on picking up holiday gifts, spending an average $235 on gift items, about $8 more than the 2023 average spend.
Shay said data and interviews indicate that consumers have now done about half of their holiday shopping, some beginning well before Thanksgiving.
"Thanksgiving weekend retains its prominence among holiday spending events and continues to play a significant role in the holiday season for both consumers and retailers," said Shay. "Even with this year's shortened shopping period and the multitude of early sales promotions from retailers, this past weekend exceeded expectations in terms of the sheer volume of shoppers."
Because Thanksgiving fell on a Thursday late in November (the 28th) and Christmas falls on a Wednesday, the holiday season is just 27 days long. Last year the season lasted 32 days.
Black Friday remains the most popular day for both in-store and online shopping: 81.7 million consumers shopped in stores on Black Friday, according to the NRF, up from 76.2 million last year, and the highest level since the pandemic. Approximately 87.3 million consumers shopped online, down slightly from 90.6 million in 2023, NRF reported.
Momentum continued through the weekend, as Saturday was the second busiest for in-store shopping, with 61.1 million consumers. Cyber Monday was the second most popular day for online shopping, attracting 64.4 million consumers compared to 73.1 million last year.
The top shopping destinations Thanksgiving weekend, according to the NRF, were department stores and online stores (both claiming 42 percent of shoppers), followed by grocery stores and supermarkets (40 percent), clothing and accessory stores (37 percent) and discount stores (32 percent).
Top gift items purchased included clothing and accessories (purchased by 49 percent of those surveyed), toys (31 percent), gift cards (27 percent), food and candy (23 percent) and personal care or beauty items (23 percent).
Additionally, Mastercard's analysis pointed to significant spending on experiences such as travel, especially among higher income consumers, Sadove said.
The NRF defines the holiday shopping season as Nov.1 through Dec. 31. A survey of just over 3,000 adults was conducted by Prosper between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1 to form the basis of the federation's estimates of shoppers and shopping habits. 
The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals. Click here for more information.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact names or information may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
