WASHINGTON – An estimated 158.9 million consumers plan to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas, according to the annual survey released Monday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The figure is up from 157.2 million shoppers last year and surpasses the previous record of 158.5 million in 2022.
“As the final Saturday before Dec. 25, Super Saturday is a significant shopping event for both consumers and retailers,” NRF vice president of Industry and consumer insights Katherine Cullen said. “This year’s event falls only five days before the Christmas holiday, and consumers will shop across retailers and channels in search of the final gifts on their lists and other holiday items they need to complete a memorable holiday season.”
Super Saturday shoppers are expected to embrace multiple channels this year, with nearly half, or 71.6 million (45%), planning to shop both in-store and online, up from 69.5 million (44%) in 2024. For the remainder who are planning to shop a single channel, 46.2 million people (29%) will do so exclusively in-store, while 41.1 million (26%) will shop online only.
The top destinations where consumers plan to finish their shopping include online (46%), department stores (33%) and discount stores (26%). The top gifts shoppers have picked up so far include clothing and accessories (48%), toys (30%), gift cards (27%), books, music, movies, video games and other media (25%) and personal care or beauty items (23%).
As of early December, consumers had completed just over half (51%) of their holiday shopping on average. For those who still had more than half of their items left on their shopping lists, top reasons included that they were still trying to figure out what to buy (33%), had other financial priorities before December (25%) or were waiting for family and friends to let them know what gifts they wanted (23%).
“Along with tangible items, gifts of experience continue to be a popular choice for people looking to create memories with loved ones,” Prosper Insights & Analytics Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Three in 10 shoppers (31%) plan to give an experience this year, such as art classes or tickets to an event. This figure has grown in popularity over the past 10 years, when only 22% of shoppers expected to give an experience in 2015.”
Looking ahead to the end of the year, 70% of consumers plan to shop the week immediately after Dec. 25. The top reasons include taking advantage of holiday sales and promotions (45%) and using gift cards (26%).
NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 and has forecast that holiday spending will surpass $1 trillion for the first time with growth between 3.7% and 4.2% over 2024.
The survey of 8,005 adult consumers was conducted Dec. 1-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.
As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF provides data on consumer behavior and spending for key periods such as holidays throughout the year.
