How can you tell Christmas is close? The big department store chains – Macy’s, Kohls and JCPenney – aired more than 60,000 ads last week on national radio stations tracked by Media Monitors. Those retailers and others dependent on the holiday may step up spending this week as an estimated 157.2 million consumers plan to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas.
With a shorter shopping season than usual due to a late Thanksgiving, the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics say their annual survey points to an increase of expected shoppers on what’s become known as “Super Saturday” for retailers. If it holds, 2024 will become the second-highest number after 2022’s 158.5 million figure.
“Super Saturday is one of the last opportunities during the holiday season for consumers to get the remaining items on their shopping list,” NRF VP Katherine Cullen says. “With a shortened window between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, consumers will be hitting stores and shopping online to get those final gifts and to take advantage of special promotions and deals.”
With only four days between Super Saturday and Dec. 25, retailer ad messages may help to drive shoppers into stores. Working in radio ad sellers’ favor is the fact that about 49.4 million Americans – or 31% of shoppers – expect to shop exclusively in-store. And 69.5 million (44%) people plan to shop both in-store and online, up from 58.3 million (41%) in 2023. One in four say they will only be shopping online this weekend, but with the tight timeline they may be relying on in-store pickup options.
As of early December, the NRF survey shows consumers had purchased half of the items on their shopping list, on average, while only 10% were completely done.
“Whether shoppers have planned out their shopping list or are waiting until the last minute, most shoppers still have purchases left to make before Dec. 25,” Prosper Insights Executive VP Phil Rist says. “As with last year, over half of consumers expect they will complete their shopping in the week leading up to the Christmas holiday.”
Retailers are also counting on the post-Christmas period. Similar to last year, seven in ten consumers plan to shop the week immediately following Dec. 25. The top reasons consumers plan to shop during the week are to take advantage of holiday sales and promotions (48%), use gift cards (26%) and return or exchange unwanted gifts and holiday items (16%).
NRF, which defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, has forecast that holiday spending will reach record levels, growing 2.5% to 3.5% vs. 2023, totaling $979.5 billion to $989 billion.