TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s holiday shopping season, and according to the National Retail Federation, the season started early. In 2022, more than half of Americans started their holiday shopping before November. The early shopping is somewhat due to “inflation concerns and early deals.”
Despite the economic upheavals of 2022, caused in some ways by inflation, a record number of shoppers are expected to hit the retail floor for the holidays. Data from NRF showed that nearly half of those surveyed on their holiday shopping habits were starting before November out of concerns that “things are just going to get more expensive before the end of the year.”
Others started early because they think the deals on popular items won’t get better before presents are due. Still, NRF reported that low and middle income households were feeling pressure from higher prices caused by inflation in 2022.
Despite the pressure, NRF said about 166.3 million shoppers were likely to buy during Thanksgiving weekend.
“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “We are optimistic that retail sales will remain strong in the weeks ahead, and retailers are ready to meet consumers however they want to shop with great products at prices they want to pay.”
Almost 70% of American shoppers plan to head to stores over Thanksgiving weekend “because the deals are too good to pass up” or because it’s a holiday tradition for them.
The NRF data showed that most shoppers are likely to shop on Black Friday. Of the 166.3 million shoppers expected, a record, 114.9 million will probably shop the day after Thanksgiving.
“Black Friday continues to be the most popular day to shop, with 69% (114.9 million) planning to shop then, followed by 38% (63.9 million) on Cyber Monday,” according to NRF. “Among the 114.9 million Black Friday shoppers, 67% say they expect to head to stores, up from 64% in 2021.”
Online shopping is also popular, with 43% of shoppers browsing the web for ideas on what to buy, according to NRF. The organization expects holiday sales between November and December to grow between 6% to 8%, spanning close $1 trillion by the end of it.