① The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts that 186.9 million people plan to shop during this year's Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday period, an increase of more than 3 million from last year; ② The NRF expects sales during this year's Thanksgiving shopping season to grow by 3.7% to 4.2%, exceeding $1 trillion for the first time, with online sales expected to grow by 8% to 9%, reaching $312.2 billion to $315 billion.
This weekend, the United States is about to usher in a major holiday shopping season. The National Retail Federation (NRF) released a consumer survey predicting that "a record 186.9 million people plan to shop from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday this year." This figure is more than 3 million higher than last year's record.
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November each year, which is November 27th this year. "Black Friday," on the other hand, refers to the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States and is generally considered the start of the Christmas shopping season, with Amazon... This is marked by large-scale discount promotions from retailers.
This year's "Black Friday" is November 28th, and the first Monday after "Black Friday" is called "Cyber Monday," which is December 1st this year. This is a promotional holiday focused on online shopping, with various e-commerce platforms and online stores offering a large number of discounts.
“The holidays are a significant part of many consumers’ budgets, and this trend is especially true this season,” said Katherine Cullen, vice president of industrial and consumer insights at NRF. “With record numbers of shoppers expected this Thanksgiving weekend, retailers are gearing up to meet consumer demand with great value and convenience.”
According to NRF data, Black Friday will be the most popular shopping day (70% of shoppers), while Cyber Monday will be the second most popular shopping day (40% of shoppers).
Phil Rist, Executive Vice President of Strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics, stated:
"Many Americans consider shopping an important part of the Thanksgiving holiday and one of the best ways to buy gifts... Of those who plan to shop during this period, more than half say the main reason is that the sales and discounts are too good to miss. Others say that shopping during this holiday is a tradition, or simply that they like to start their holiday shopping on a long weekend."
The organization predicts that sales during this year's Thanksgiving shopping season will increase by 3.7% to 4.2% compared to the same period last year, and sales will exceed $1 trillion for the first time.
"This is an above-trend forecast, reflecting consumers' priority in spending money on loved ones," NRF wrote in a press release. "All the event-driven spending we've seen this year—Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Homecoming, and Halloween—has reached or is close to record highs."
In terms of sales growth, NRF expects online and other non-physical store sales to grow by 8% to 9% year-over-year, reaching $312.2 billion to $315 billion , up from $289 billion last year.
However, in terms of hiring, retailers expect to hire 265,000 to 365,000 seasonal workers during the holiday shopping season, possibly the lowest level in more than 15 years, reflecting a weakening U.S. economy and a slowing labor market.
(Article source: CLS)
