With Thanksgiving on the latest date it has been since 2002, shoppers are getting an unusually early start on their holiday shopping.
Many stores will be opening between 6 and 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day rather than waiting for the “midnight madness” of Black Friday. Stores like Target, Walmart and Sears will be opening Thanksgiving evening. However, The Gap has plans to open more than 900 of its Old Navy stores from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
About 36 percent of the Millennial Generation shopped on Thanksgiving Day last year. Adults ranging from ages 18-24 spent on average $326 dollars for the 2012 holiday season. The majority of the spending went to gifts for their families. Last year, on average, shoppers spent $423 during the holiday shopping season.
Though this shopping season is not predicted to be a banner year for retail stores, the National Retail Federation, NFR, has expected to see a 3.9 percent increase in shopper spending compared to 2012 and a 3.3 percent increase over the last decade.
Several stores have bumped their typical December sales into November in an effort to entice shoppers. According to the NFR, over 50 percent of Americans have already begun their holiday shopping.
NFR president and CEO Matthew Shay says this could be so that consumers can spread their spending out. Consumers backed up Shay’s belief in the Monthly Consumer Survey where 60 percent of shoppers say they began their holiday shopping early to “spread out [their] gift shopping budget.”
Several types of products are predicted to lead sales this season. Clothing and electronics are among the highest anticipated items. Over 51 percent of shoppers say they would like to receive clothing, and 36 percent say they hope to receive electronic products, according to the Prosper Insights & Analytics Monthly Consumer Survey released in October.
Although products are high on consumers’ wish lists, gift cards are the highest requested item this season. The highest percentages of gift cards consumers are planning to purchase this season are for department stores and restaurants, 41 percent and 34 percent respectively.
While historically, Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, has been known as the largest and busiest shopping day of the year, shoppers do have other options. The Saturday following Black Friday has been named Small Business Saturday.
American Express founded Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a way to encourage shoppers to support business in their cities and towns. The company viewed this as a way to help stabilize local economies. Small Business Saturday is slated for Nov. 30.
Shoppers also have the option to shop on Cyber Monday, which made its debut on Nov. 28, 2005. The term was coined by NFR’s shop.org, and it is the largest day for online shopping of the year. This year, Cyber Monday will be held on Dec. 2.
Shoppers estimate purchasing 51 percent of their items online, according to the Prosper Insights & Analytics Monthly Consumer Survey for October 2004-2013.
NFR predicts a total of $602.1 billion will be spent during the shopping season. This can account for as much as 40 percent of some retailers’ total annual sales. NFR is also estimating between 720,000 and 780,000 seasonal employees will be hired for this holiday season.
Though some consumers do wait until December, November has proven to be the largest, by percentage, month for consumers to begin their holiday shopping.
