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NRF: 148 Million Americans Plan to Shop Super Saturday, December 18 December 14, 2021 (0 comments)
Washington, DC—More than 148 million consumers--44% of all Americans--plan to shop this coming Saturday, the last before Christmas this year.
Dubbed Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas this year falls exactly one week before December 25. According to the annual survey released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, the number reflects a slight drop from last year when 150 million consumers were expected to shop on Super Saturday, but an increase from the 147 million expected shoppers on that day in 2019. This year’s number of anticipated Super Saturday shoppers is the third-highest reported since NRF began tracking the figure in 2016.
“Retailers began preparations for the holiday season months in advance, offering seasonal inventory early and taking preventative measures to circumvent supply chain challenges exacerbated by the pandemic,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Consumers have responded with a growing eagerness to kick off the holiday shopping season early, and they expect to carry that momentum through the last few weeks of the year.
Just over a quarter of consumers (27%) plan to shop exclusively in-store and another third (32%) plan to shop exclusively online, while most (41%) expect to use a combination of the two channels.
While consumers plan to spend an average total of $997.73 on holiday purchases this year, as of early December, they had completed roughly half (52%) of their holiday shopping. Still, many are aiming to wrap up their shopping early, with a record 42% planning to purchase their last gift before December 18. This figure is up from 40% a year ago and 30% in 2012, when NRF first asked this question. Even so, procrastinators remain: more than half (52%) expect they will still be picking up last minute gifts in the week leading up to Christmas.
Nearly half (48%) of holiday shoppers plan to complete the remainder of their shopping online. Other top destinations include department stores (34%), discount stores (21%), clothing and accessories stores (20%) and local and small businesses (16%). Just 23% of holiday shoppers plan to give an experiential gift this year, perhaps due to ongoing concerns about the pandemic.
Retailer efforts to mitigate the impact of supply chain challenges appear to have paid off. 71% of holiday shoppers say they have been able to find the items they are looking for most or all of the time, and 67% are confident they will find what they need.
NRF has forecast that holiday sales will grow between 8.5% and 10.5% over 2020. At press time the 2021 holiday season appears to be on track to reach as high as 11.5% growth over last year. Surveys of the jewelry industry show it is also on track for record growth and is outperforming the general retail market.
20% of consumers want to receive jewelry this holiday season, steady from last year's figures, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights. But existing measures of jewelry sales indicate their figures may vastly underrepresent the market.