More Than 158M Shoppers Will Shop on Super Saturday, NRF Says — Retail Bum

U.S. retailers are expecting bumper Super Saturday sales this year, with 158.5 million consumers planning to make last-minute holiday purchases on the last Saturday before Christmas, NRF’s research shows.

This year’s Super Saturday sales are expected to break previous records, with an additional 10 million more consumers planning to shop this year, the highest since 2016 when NRF began tracking the data point.

“Consumers have been shopping in record numbers this year, purchasing holiday items for friends and loved ones,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

“With Super Saturday falling eight days before Christmas, retailers are prepared to help shoppers fulfill their last-minute purchases that will make this holiday season memorable.”

Of the estimated 158.5 million shoppers, 44.1 million (28%) plan to shop only in physical stores, 42.2 million (27%) plan to shop digitally, and 72.2 million (46%) plan to shop both in stores and online.

On this year’s Super Saturday, retailers will not only see more consumers shopping for gifts but also a shift in how they make payments. More than half (52%) of shoppers plan to use digital wallets, up from 44% in 2021, with 32% planning to use PayPal to complete their purchases, followed by Apple Pay (14%) and Cash App (12%). The use of digital wallets is expected to be particularly high among those aged 18 to 24, as more than three-quarters of them have used the payment method to pay for their holiday purchases this year.

Overall, NRF expects this year’s total holiday sales to be between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion, which equates to a 6% and 8% improvement over last year.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on December 15, 2022.