Nov. 29, 2023 — According to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, 200.4 million consumers shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, surpassing last year’s record of 196.7 million and NRF’s initial prediction of 182 million.
 
Consumers shopped both online and in-store, with 121.4 million shoppers visiting physical retail locations to make purchases—consistent with 122.7 million in 2022. Online shoppers totaled 134.2 million, up from 130.2 million last year.
 
The top locations for Thanksgiving weekend shoppers were online (44%), grocery stores and supermarkets (42%), department stores (40%), clothing and accessories stores (36%), and electronics stores (29%). Further, 95% percent of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers made holiday-related purchases during the event, down from 97% last year.
 
The five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday comprises the busiest shopping days of the year, though Black Friday continued its streak as the most popular day for in-store shopping, with 76.2 million shoppers visiting physical locations for purchases—up from 72.9 million in 2022. Black Friday was also the most popular day for online shopping, continuing a trend that began in 2019, with 90.6 million shoppers making online purchases—up from 87.2 million in 2022.
 
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, 59 million shoppers visited stores, down from 63.4 million last year. In line with last year, 78% of Saturday shoppers shopped specifically for Small Business Saturday.
 
On Cyber Monday, 73 million consumers shopped online, down from 77 million in 2022, with 44 million using computers and 40.5 million using mobile devices to make purchases.
 
Gift purchases during the five-day period were topped by clothing and accessories (49%), followed by toys (31%), gift cards (25%), personal care or beauty items (23%), and books, video games, and other media (23%). This year marks the first time personal care and beauty items were among the top five most popular gifts, according to Prosper Insights & Analytics executive vice president of strategy Phil Rist.
 
On average, consumers reported that 55% of their Thanksgiving weekend purchases were driven by sales and promotions, up from 52% in 2022. Another 31% reported that promotions with time limits convinced them to make a purchase they were hesitant about, up from 29% last year. As retailers continue to respond to earlier holiday demand with sales and promotions throughout the season, 55% of consumers reported they took advantage of earlier promotions, and 35% shopped specifically in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.
 
NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 and predicts that spending during this time will reach record levels, growing between 3% and 4%, or $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion.