Nationally, there were fewer shoppers than last year through the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, with more in-person shopping, according to data shared by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and research firm Prosper Insights & Analytics on Tuesday.
An estimated 197 million shoppers went online and visited stores to hunt for Black Friday deals and shop for the holidays, down from 200.4 million last year but above NRF’s 183.4 million projection.
“Even with this year’s shortened shopping period and the multitude of early sales promotions from retailers, this past weekend exceeded expectations in terms of the sheer volume of shoppers,” said Matt Shay, president and CEO of NRF.
The results come from a survey of 3,055 adult consumers which was conducted between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1.
The number of in-store shoppers increased to 126 million consumers, up from 121.4 million in 2023. Online shopping was less popular this year, with 124.3 million shopping online this year compared to 134.2 million in 2023.
Over the course of the weekend:
- Black Friday was the most popular day for both in-store and online shopping, with 81.7 million people hitting the stores and 87.3 million browsing online.
- Saturday was another strong in-store shopping day, with 61.1 million shoppers.
- Cyber Monday was the second biggest day for online shopping, with 64.4 million consumers participating compared to 73.1 million in 2021. More online shoppers than ever are using their phones to shop, with 63% shopping on mobile devices.
Industry Retailers Report on Black Friday Weekend Results
Wanderlust Land & Sea
Luke Mesanko, the owner of Wanderlust Land & Sea in New Jersey, described the weekend results as “very strong.”
“Black Friday comped flat to last year – it was a long-fought battle, but at the end of the day we closed the gap to only being off a few hundred bucks,” he said. “Small Business Saturday surprised us and was up considerably. Sunday is not a huge day for us but we were also up.”
Top performers at Wanderlust over the weekend included Marine Layer, 7 Diamonds, Vuori, Free People, L*Space, and Z Supply, Mesanko said.
“We’re selling a ton of pants, fleece sets, sweaters, jackets – all the holiday norms,” he said. “On the men’s side, it’s undoubtedly a conservative market right now – everything has to be comfortable and clean. Prints are so dead and staple holiday plaids are in the back seat. Women’s is all over the place and honestly a lot of fun. Free People denim is unreal. Z Supply coats are flying.”
Aqua East Surf Shop
At Aqua East Surf Shop in St. Augustine, Florida, buyer Jessica Podloski is cautiously optimistic about holiday sales overall given that sales on Black Friday were up, and the weekend overall was flat to last year.
“It was cold here all weekend long, so we sold a lot of fleece, sweaters, wetsuits, etc.,” she said.
The No. 1 vendor overall at Aqua East for the important weekend? Vuori.
Aqua East leaned into the promotional spirit of the weekend and bought specifically for the occasion from Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, and RVCA, and offered select goods from those brands at 40% off.
Spyder Surfboards
At Spyder Surfboards in Hermosa Beach, California, sales were up slightly this year, but margins were down fairly considerably, according to partner Richard O’Reilly.
“We were on sale for longer and with deeper discounts than we ever have been before – which was necessary to try and compete with the hyper aggressive DTC campaigns and discounts that most of our vendors were pushing,” he said. “Even those brands that had said they wouldn’t be significantly discounting ended up doing so. The ‘premium’ value of most of the iconic surf brands is wearing out and it continues to become more obvious that we need the newer, smaller brands to thrive.”
Spyder is still optimistic about the rest of the holidays, however.
“We do have tons of great product in the stores and believe we can provide a better experience for the customer than they can get on their phones,” O’Reilly said.
Emerald City Surf Shop
Larry Kraus of Emerald City Surf Shop in Coronado, California, was also disappointed with the steep discounts many brands offered. But the store tries to focus on what it does best – customer service and encouraging the local community to shop local.
“Everything sold fairly well over the weekend, but it sure would have been nice to be able to match the 30%-70% off most the brands did or at least have some sort of gift with purchase to offer,” he said. “I will say my hat goes off to Rhythm and Patagonia for the marketing they did to support their brick-and-mortar retailers and their own brand integrity.”
Top performers over the weekend included Emerald City private label and Distant Local.
Quiet Storm Ft. Lauderdale
Discounts are not a big driver of sales at Quiet Storm in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, overall, and this weekend, the store had a good mix of full-price customers and “only sale” shoppers.
“That’s pretty normal for here,” said partner Eric Thomas. “Having SALES! doesn’t necessarily drive business for us.”
That said, Quiet Storm Ft. Lauderdale offered discounts on Quiet Storm private label and had a few sale racks of third-party branded products.
“We didn’t discount any new deliveries of our branded products, despite some of the brands doing it themselves,” he said. “They don’t discount my invoices when they are due, so I need to make full price on our newest goods.”
Overall, Black Friday sales were down 3% to last year – likely due to the Hanukkah calendar shift – but up 13% from two years ago.
“We think the holidays will be flat,” Thomas said. “Not saying down is great. Hanukkah being late could help the month. I think consumer confidence has grown. However, until shoppers see gas and food prices going the right direction, they are probably going to be conservative on the non-essentials.”
Positive Outlook for Holiday
NRF’s Shay said its research also bodes well for the holidays.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, shoppers spent an average of $235 on holiday gifts, an $8 increase from last year, and clothing and accessories were the most popular gifts.
The shorter holiday period didn’t stop 38% of those surveyed from participating in sales that launched the week before Thanksgiving, and 52% still have at least half of their shopping to do.
NRF projects that holiday spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 will grow between 2.5% and 3.5% compared to 2023, totaling between $979.5 billion and $989 billion.
