ICSC: 78% of consumers shopped holiday weekend; discount stores most popular

The majority of U.S. adults went shopping over the long holiday weekend.

Seventy-eight percent of U.S. adults – 201.5 million people – shopped or spent money during the five-day period beginning on Thanksgiving and ending Cyber Monday, according to a report from the ICSC. Overall, 73% of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers visited a shopping center during the long weekend to shop or for other activities and services.

In other findings, 66% of holiday weekend shoppers – approximately 119.7 million adults – spent money at a physical store during the weekend, up 5% from last year. The ability to physically see or touch merchandise ranked as shoppers’ top (50%) motivation for visiting a physical store, followed by browsing for new gift ideas (35%) and an overall preference for in-store shopping (34%).

Consistent with recent years, most that made purchases did so at discount department stores (61%), while restaurants and dining moved into the second spot (36%). Traditional department stores dropped to third (31%).

Nearly half (48%) made purchases from Amazon or other pure-play online retailers, the report said. Of those who shopped online, the largest segment (63%) cited convenience, while half cited cheaper prices or better promotions.

Other ICSC findings are below:

• Most spending occurred on Black Friday, with consumers reporting that they did 38.7% of their total weekend spending that day. Cyber Monday accounted for 18.3% of spending.

• More than half (54%) of shoppers shopped with small or locally owned community businesses to show support.

• Half agreed they shopped just as much or more over the long weekend as they have in years past, and 67% agreed the deals weekend remained just as important for their holiday shopping.

• Most of the weekend shoppers spent on holiday gifts for others (66%), dining (46%) as well as other holiday-related items (25%).

“The early start to the shopping season didn’t stop people from shopping on Black Friday and throughout the holiday weekend, including Cyber Monday — and consumers indicated they still have more shopping to do,” said ICSC president and CEO Tom McGee. “Discount department stores saw particularly strong traffic, and in-store shopping overall was positive as deals extended across the weekend. Not surprisingly, shoppers are seeking the best prices and deals and seem willing to wait until they can find them.”