Stock up for Super Saturday! In a recent survey of over 8,000 shoppers, the National Retail Federation (NRF) concluded that more than 150 million U.S. consumers plan to shop on Super Saturday this year, up from 147.8 million in 2019.

Super Saturday is the last Saturday before Christmas, and is traditionally one of the most lucrative shopping days on the retail calendar. This year’s predicted 150 million shopper count includes both in-store and online consumers (42% of those polled said they intend to shop solely online).

A potential snag in the otherwise bullish forecast: Super Saturday occurs nearly a week before Christmas this year. That means people have more time to finish their holiday shopping before the holiday, potentially diluting Super Saturday’s traffic, both online and in stores. 

As of early December, when the NRF finished conducting its poll of 8,092 adult consumers in collaboration with Prosper Insights & Analytics, 85% of holiday consumers had started shopping and had completed 52% of their purchasing for the season. Of those with at least half of their shopping left to complete, 37% were “still deciding what to buy,” 26% were “waiting for family and friends to tell them what they wanted,” and 23% were “holding off for the best deals,” according to the report. And 54% of holiday shoppers surveyed said they plan to purchase their last gift during the week leading up to Christmas.

More than half of consumers (52%) reported that they plan to complete their holiday shopping online. No surprise there—a swath of U.S. shoppers haven’t been comfortable shopping brick-and-mortar all year because of the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s where those who are headed to brick-and-mortar retailers are planning to go: 30% said they’d shop at department stores; 20% will hit up discount stores; another 20% will shop at clothing and accessories stores; and 17% said they plan to go to an electronics store.

Among the top gift purchases made so far are clothing and accessories (45%), toys (29%), gift cards (28%), books and other media (27%), and electronics (23%).

Experiences, a growing gifting category that includes things like movie tickets, restaurant gift cards, and flight tickets, dipped drastically this year, reports the NRF (again: COVID). Only 21% of shoppers plan to give a “gift of experience” this year, down from 25 percent in 2019, and the lowest since NRF first asked the question in 2015. 

NRF forecasts that overall sales this holiday season will increase between 3.6% and 5.2% over 2019, to reach a total that falls between $755.3 billion and $766.7 billion. Over the same period, the organization predicts that online and other non-store sales, which are included in the total, will increase between 20% and 30%. 

(Photo: Getty Images)

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