Holiday shopping kick-off: 5 days, 164 million shoppers

New York - This week marks the beginning of the holidays shopping season, a key period for retailers worldwide. This year, an estimated 164 million people in the U.S. will go shopping Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.

The new annual survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics found that found that of those planning to shop during the long holiday weekend 21 percent (34 million) plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day, but Black Friday will remain the busiest day with 71 percent (116 million) planning to shop.

Online shopping is forecast to remain king, with another survey conducted by payments platform Splitit confirming this trend by pointing out that more consumers plan to shop online on Black Friday more consumers plan to shop online on Black Friday (38 percent) than either Cyber Monday (32 percent) or Christmas (31 percent).

“While the long weekend always draws shoppers of all ages to take advantage of the irresistible deals and promotions that retailers are offering, we’re seeing a change in how the younger consumers see the weekend.” Prosper Insights Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said in a corporate release announcing.

Forty-one percent (67 million) are expected to shop on Small Business Saturday, and 78 percent of those say they will do so specifically to support small businesses. On Sunday, 20 percent (32 million) are expected to shop. The shopping weekend will wrap up on Cyber Monday when 46 percent (75 million) are expected to take advantage of online bargains.

“Compared to older generations, younger consumers under the age of 35 are more likely to be attracted by the social aspects of shopping over the weekend or by the fact that it is a family tradition,” further explained Rist.

23 percent of consumers start shopping their holiday gifts during the Thanksgiving weekend

Of those shopping this year, 65 percent said they are doing so to take advantage of deals and promotions retailers will offer, while 26 percent cited the tradition of shopping over Thanksgiving weekend and 23 percent said it is something to do over the holiday weekend and the same number said it is when they start their holiday shopping.

“Whether it’s heading to the stores after finishing their turkey or going online on Cyber Monday, consumers will be shopping all weekend and retailers will be ready to meet the demand,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retail is a vibrant, dynamic and competitive industry, but one thing is certain – consumers are the winners no matter which day or which way they shop.”

Photo:Macy’s website. Graphs by Heidi Law.