The National Retail Federation (NRF) has projected that holiday spending in November and December will surpass $957.3 billion in 2023, indicating a growth of 3% to 4% compared to the total holiday spending of $929.5 billion in 2022.
NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said, “Traditionally, Super Saturday marks the final major shopping holiday of the year. While most consumers still have plenty of shopping left to do, retailers are prepared both online and in stores with gifts, decorations and other items that people need to make this season fun and memorable.”
A survey released by the NRF predicts that nearly 142 million consumers plan to shop on December 23rd, known as ‘Super Saturday’, which is the last Saturday before Christmas. The last instance when ‘Super Saturday’ fell on December 23rd was in 2017, witnessing participation from 126 million consumers. In contrast, Super Saturday fell on December 17th in the previous year, eight days before Christmas. The survey recorded that a total of 158.8 billion consumers shopped either online or physically last year. According to this survey data, approximately 37% of consumers will be shopping exclusively in stores this year, marking a rise of 9% from 2022.
Phil Rist, Prosper Insights & Analytics Executive Vice President of Strategy stated, “This year Super Saturday is truly aligned for last-minute shoppers. A majority of consumers also plan on purchasing their last gift in the week leading up to Christmas.” As per the press release by NRF, holiday shoppers had purchased about half (49%) of their gifts by early December. Over one-third of consumers admitted they were still unsure about their purchases.
In terms of product categories, clothing and accessories constituted half (50%) of all gifts purchased during the holiday season so far. Toys emerged as the second most popular choice at 34%. The retail sector, being the nation’s largest private sector employer, contributes over $3.9 trillion to the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in America. Furthermore, one in four jobs in the U.S. are within the retail industry.
