Sales, Traffic Decline Thanksgiving Weekend

December 1, 2014

Fewer Americans shopped and they spent less money during the Thanksgiving weekend, according to new estimates from the National Retail Federation.

Early holiday promotions, the continued growth of online shopping, and an improving economy changed the way millions of people approached the biggest shopping weekend of the year, according to NRF's Thanksgiving Weekend Spending Survey.  More than half of Americans shopped in stores or online (55.1 percent) but that was less than the prior year when 58.7 percent of Americans shopped.  Overall shopper traffic from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday, November 30 declined 5.2 percent to 133.7 million unique holiday shoppers versus 141.1 million in 2013.  Total shopping, including multiple trips by the same shopper, declined to 233.3 million trips versus 248.6 million.

"A strengthening economy that changes consumers' reliance on deep discounts, a highly competitive environment, early promotions and the ability to shop 24/7 online all contributed to the shift witnessed this weekend," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.  "We are excited to be witnessing an evolutionary change in holiday shopping by both consumers and retailers, and expect this trend to continue in the years ahead."

According to the survey, the average person who shopped or will shop the holiday weekend spent $380.95, down 6.4 percent from $407.02 last year.  Total spending is expected to reach $50.9 billion, down from last year's estimated $57.4 billion.

Though the overall number of shoppers dropped this year, it remains clear that Black Friday still draws the biggest crowds of the weekend.  According to the survey 86.9 million shoppers were in stores and online on Black Friday while 43.1 million shopped on Thanksgiving Day.  Online shopping appears to have eroded store traffic, but also declined.  According to the survey the average person who shopped over the weekend spent $159.55 online, approximately 41.9 percent of their total average budget, down 10.2 percent from $177.67 last year.  Most shoppers say they shopped online on Black Friday (46.7%), though 36.3 percent say they shopped online on Saturday.  Additionally more than one-quarter (26.2%) of holiday shoppers were online on Thanksgiving Day.

"Though much shopping has been done by this point, it's important to remember that there are still many weeks left in the holiday season, and savvy shoppers will continue to look for exclusive prices to purchase holiday gifts.  As competition for customer dollars heats up, consumers will be the ultimate winners in the end.  Shoppers this year have made it clear that they no longer only value deep discounts on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, they want the entire package from beginning to end - free shipping, early promotions, convenient ways to use their mobile devices, and, of course, hard-to-beat online deals."

Source: Retailing Today