Holiday weekend recap: Purchases up, but average spending declines 3.5%

Average spending per person over Thanksgiving weekend totaled $289.19, down from $299.60 last year, according to a survey conducted by National Retail Federation.



The survey found that 154 million people made purchases over the extended holiday weekend, up from 151 million a year ago. When it comes to where consumers shopped, 44% went online and 40% shopped in-store. The most popular day to shop online was Black Friday, up 1.3% from last year to 74%, followed by Saturday (49%), Thanksgiving (36%), and Sunday (34%). Of those that shopped in store, 75% shopped on Black Friday, up 3.4% from last year, 40% on Saturday, 35% on Thanksgiving and 17% on Sunday.



The survey found that 29% of shoppers headed out after 10 a.m. on Black Friday, up from 24% last year. Less than 15% of consumers arrived to the stores by 6 a.m. or earlier on Black Friday.



Early Thanksgiving Day in-store shopping dropped by 19% with only 7% of consumers heading to stores before 5 p.m. – while shopping that day itself was up 1%.



The survey also found that only 9% of consumers have finished their holiday shopping, down from 11% last year. And 23% have yet to make any dents to their lists, up from 19% last year.



The survey found that of those that shopped in store, 51% shopped at department stores, 34% at discount stores, 32% at electronics stores, 28% at clothing or accessories stores, and 25% at grocery/supermarket stores.



According to the survey, 56% of smartphone owners and 53% of tablet owners used their devices to assist with weekend shopping activities.



According to research by Adobe Digital Insights, online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday were $5.27 billion, up 18% from a year earlier and higher than its estimate of $5.05 billion.