Super Saturday expected to attract record crowds
Retailers should prepare for record traffic on “Super Saturday” as consumers rush to complete their holiday shopping.
An estimated 158.9 million consumers plan to shop on December 20, the last Saturday before Christmas, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The figure is up from 157.2 million shoppers last year and surpasses the previous record of 158.5 million in 2022. (Black Friday and Super Saturday are generally regarded as the two busiest shopping days of the holiday season.)
Super Saturday shoppers are expected to embrace multiple channels this year, with nearly half, or 71.6 million (45%), planning to shop both in-store and online, up from 69.5 million (44%) in 2024. For those who plan to shop a single channel, 29% will do so exclusively in-store, while 26% will shop online only.
The top destinations where consumers plan to finish their shopping include online (46%), department stores (33%) and discount stores (26%), according to the study.
Gifts of experience continue to be a popular holiday choice, noted Prosper Insights & Analytics executive VP of strategy Phil Rist.
“Three in 10 shoppers (31%) plan to give an experience this year, such as art classes or tickets to an event,” he said. “This figure has grown in popularity over the past 10 years, when only 22% of shoppers expected to give an experience in 2015.”
Other findings from the survey are below:
•Looking ahead to the end of the year, 70% of consumers plan to shop the week immediately after Dec. 25. The top reasons include taking advantage of holiday sales and promotions (45%) and using gift cards (26%).
•The top gifts shoppers have picked up so far include clothing and accessories (48%), toys (30%), gift cards (27%), books, music, movies, video games and other media (25%) and personal care or beauty items (23%).
•As of early December, consumers had completed just over half (51%) of their holiday shopping on average.
NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. It has forecast that holiday spending will surpass $1 trillion for the first time with growth between 3.7% and 4.2% over 2024.
The survey of 8,005 adult consumers was conducted Dec. 1-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.
