Super Saturday to Draw More Than 158M Shoppers
Retailers will burst out of their mid-December shopping lull when more than 158 million U.S. consumers hit the malls and stores on Super Saturday. At least that’s the expectation from the National Retail Federation, which on Tuesday made the big turnout projection for Super Saturday, which is Dec. 17, based on a consumer survey in conjunction with Prosper Insights & Analytics.
The 158 million figure is approximately 10 million more shoppers than last year’s expected number, and the highest number since NRF first started tracking this data in 2016. The weather in New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles is expected to be generally favorable for shopping on Saturday, based on forecasts from The Weather Channel.
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“Consumers have been shopping in record numbers this year, purchasing holiday items for friends and loved ones,” said NRF president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay. “With Super Saturday falling eight days before Christmas, retailers are prepared to help shoppers fulfill their last-minute purchases that will make this holiday season memorable.”
Of the 158.5 million anticipated Super Saturday shoppers, 44.1 million (28 percent) plan to shop only in stores, 42.2 million (27 percent) plan to shop only online and 72.2 million (46 percent) plan to shop both in stores and online, the NRF indicated.
The survey of 7,857 consumers was conducted Dec. 1 to 7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percent.
After Black Friday and Cyber Week, retailers tend to experience each year a lull in shopping until approximately 10 days before Christmas.
“In line with recent years, as of early December, holiday shoppers said they had completed about half (53 percent) of their purchases,” the NRF indicated. “They plan to finish their holiday purchases online (47 percent), at department stores (37 percent), at discount stores (27 percent), at clothing/accessories stores (24 percent) and at grocery stores (19 percent).
The top gifts consumers have bought so far include clothing (50 percent), toys (34 percent), gift cards (28 percent), books and other media (26 percent) and food or candy (23 percent).
Twenty-eight percent of holiday shoppers plan to give experiential gifts such as tickets to a concert or sports event, a gym membership, a spa or an art class, according to the NRF. “This is up from 23 percent last year and is the highest since NRF began asking consumers this question in 2015. This trend will syphon sales away from material goods, such as clothing and electronics.
However, retailers will benefit by having an extra Saturday for shopping, since Christmas Day this year falls on a Sunday.
Also, post-holiday shopping is expected to be big, as consumers redeem gift cards, which often lead to spending more than the value of the card itself, and retailers sustain big price promotions due to the bloated inventories many have been grappling with all season.
According to the NRF, 70 percent of consumers plan to shop after Dec. 25, which is on par with pre-pandemic levels for post-Christmas shopping.
“Strong shopping is expected after Christmas as holiday shoppers aim to take advantage of retailers’ sales and promotions,” said Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy Phil Rist. “In the week following Christmas Day, we expect to see consumers maximize holiday sales and promotions, use gift cards and return or exchange unwanted gifts.”
Meanwhile, the way consumers prefer to pay for holiday purchases is shifting. Fifty-two percent said they are using alternative payments or digital wallets, up from 44 percent last year and 39 percent in 2019. The most common alternative payment is PayPal (32 percent), followed by Apple Pay (14 percent) and CashApp (12 percent).
NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 and has forecast that U.S. retail sales for this season will grow between 6 and 8 percent over 2021 to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion.
