Thanksgiving Deals Draw Record Number of Shoppers, Says NRF

For men, 73 percent were out shopping, compared with 65 percent last year.

How about online sales?

“The growth in online retail sales is a tide that lifts everybody,” Phil Rist, Prosper’s executive vice president of strategy, said in a press release announcing the survey results.

For online shoppers, free shipping was the biggest draw to make a purchase they were otherwise hesitant about, according to 49 percent of respondents, up from 42 percent last year.

Being able to buy online and pick up in-store, also known as BOPIS, was another top reason, cited by 20 percent of respondents, up from 15 percent last year.

Limited-time sales and promotions were factors for 38 percent of respondents, while 21 percent cited a user-friendly website or app.

Shoppers hunting for a bargain looked to emails from retailers, 39 percent, just ahead of advertising circulars and online search, which tied at 38 percent.

Mobile devices were used by 75 percent of respondents to research products, compare prices, and make purchases, compared with 66 percent last year.

What did they buy?

Apparel took the top spot for gift purchases at 58 percent, followed by toys at 33 percent, electronics at 31 percent, books, music, movies, and video games at 28 percent, and gift cards at 27 percent.

Consumers, on average, finished 52 percent of their shopping during the five-day period, compared with 44 percent during the same weekend last year. (However, it's worth noting that Thanksgiving was six days earlier in 2018.)

The survey also found 39 percent of shoppers believe deals will get better as the holiday season continues.

Will the tariff negotiations affect holiday sales?

The impact of the current tariffs was not felt this holiday weekend, Shay said on the call.

He noted 80 percent of consumers are aware of, and concerned about, the impact of tariffs on consumer prices, but said shoppers are still out there buying and behaving confidently.

“We know that up to this point, consumers have paid nearly $40 billion in increased prices because of existing tariffs,” said Shay.

“We’re hopeful that we see some positive resolution to trade conversations that are taking place in a number of places now.”

Shay warned against trying to “armchair-quarterback things,” and instead let the situation play out.

Holiday retail sales are expected to increase between 3.8 percent and 4.2 percent year-over-year, with sales totaling as much as $730.7 billion, according to an earlier NRF survey.

The NRF surveyed 6,746 adult consumers from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.