Thanksgiving weekend running from November 24th to 27th experienced 10 million more shoppers than predicted by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics. This increase in shopping came about through a multitude of factors— from low unemployment to strong consumer confidence, while investments into technology enabling a large portion of consumers to shop over the internet.
“This year, consumers 65 and older proved that online shopping isn’t just for Generation Z and Millennials,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President of Strategy at Prosper. “However, younger consumers (those under 34) are still savvy when it comes to online shopping and leveraged their smartphones the most to browse for the best deals from some of their favorite retailers.”
The use of smartphones to shop for the holidays isn’t restricted to younger consumers however, with 63% of owners using the device to plan for the holidays, and 29% making purchases with them. Shopping online accounts for 81 million consumers on Cyber Monday alone, with 66 million also shopping on Black Friday, compared to the 77 million consumers shopping in-store on Black Friday.
58 million individuals conducted all of their shopping for the holiday weekend online, with 51 million exclusively shopping at physical stores only, while 64 million shopped using both. The survey sampled 3,242 consumers in total about their shopping plans for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with a 1.7% margin of error, and doesn’t include historical data thanks to the inclusion of Cyber Monday and to better understand shopping experiences.
