Holiday Shopping Gets a Jump Start

More consumers plan to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to start holiday shopping – according to new data from The NPD Group.

As of the time this study was fielded, 16 percent of consumers had already started their holiday shopping, versus 15 percent last year, with an additional 19 percent stating they plan to start shopping before Thanksgiving, compared to 22 percent last year. Eighteen percent claim they will start during Thanksgiving weekend, a sharp contrast to last year’s 13 percent. Among the consumers reporting that they will begin their shopping during Thanksgiving weekend, 12 percent plan to shop on Black Friday, while the remaining 6 percent plan to do their shopping on Saturday and/or Sunday.

“Consumers are anticipating the Thanksgiving weekend door-buster deals and other savings incentives, and as a result of their proven interest in special sales and deals, retailers last year began to open on Thanksgiving Day, with more stores jumping on this new tradition this year,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst, The NPD Group. “However, it’s important to keep in mind that this doesn’t mean more sales at the register. After all, how many more family members and friends do consumers need to shop for just because the stores decided to open earlier? How much more money do they have in their holiday budget because the stores started promoting earlier? This year we’ll see more shopping happening in the Thanksgiving zone, a deeper lull following, and finally a mad dash at the end for the last-minute shoppers.”