World

US: Thanksgiving Weekend attracts a record 203 million shoppers

Dec 9, 2025 United States

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 202.9 million consumers shopped over the Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday weekend, up from 197 million last year and surpassing the record of 200.4 million set in 2023

“Thanksgiving weekend is an important time for families and friends to come together, and holiday shopping plays a key role in that shared experience”, commented NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “This year’s record turnout reflects a highly engaged consumer who is focused on value, responds to compelling promotions, and seizes upon the opportunity to make the winter holidays special and meaningful”.

The annual consumer survey, conducted by the NRF in collaboration with Prosper Insights & Analytics, shows that consumers shopped both in-store and online throughout the five-day period. In total, 129.5 million consumers shopped in-store, which is an increase of 3% from 126 million in 2023. Meanwhile, online shopping saw an increase of 9%, with 134.9 million shoppers, as compared to 124.3 million last year.

Black Friday remained the busiest shopping day, both in-store and online. It attracted 80.3 million in-store shoppers and 85.7 million online shoppers, which is slightly below last year’s figures of 81.7 million and 87.3 million respectively. Cyber Monday remains the second most popular day for online shopping, with 75.9 million people shopping online compared to 64.4 million in 2024.

But it's worth highlighting that overall weekend activity increased: Saturday saw 62.7 million in-store shoppers, up from 61.1 million in 2023, as well as 63 million online shoppers, up from 53.9 million. The Sunday after Thanksgiving saw a record 32.6 million in-store shoppers, up 27% from 25.6 million, while 38.7 million people shopped online, up from 32.8 million last year.

Holiday Spending

Almost all shoppers (96%) made a holiday purchase over the weekend, spending an average of 337.86 million US dollars on gifts, festive clothing, decorations and other seasonal items, reflecting an increase on last year’s average of 315.56 million US dollars and the highest figure since 2019’s average of 361.90 million US dollars.

The data reveals that around 67% of the total was spent on gifts. Clothing and accessories were the most popular gift category (51%), followed by toys (32%), books and other media (28%) and gift cards (26%).

By Thanksgiving weekend, 84% of consumers had already started their holiday shopping. Yet, much like last year, they still had just over half (53%) to complete. NRF defines the holiday season as the period between the 1^stof November to the 31^stof December and expects spending to exceed 1 trillion US dollars for the first time, with growth forecast at 3.7% to 4.2% over 2024.

Image Credits: massmarketretailers.com

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