Watch CBS News

Nearly 140M Shoppers Expected To Hit Stores Thanksgiving Weekend

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)—Nearly 140 million consumers are expected to hit the stores this Thanksgiving weekend, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

"Black Friday remains one of the busiest shopping days of the year, with Americans planning to take advantage of aggressive in-store and digital promotions over the entire holiday weekend," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "Retailers know consumers are spreading out their holiday budgets to shop throughout the season. While there's no doubt of the incredible promotions offered during the weekend, the holiday shopping season is long and consumers will look for and expect great deals down to the very last minute."

Of the 137.4 million flooding the stores on the holiday weekend, the survey shows consumers have a preference:

  • 21 percent consumers will shop on Thanksgiving Day
  • Black Friday will remain the busiest shopping day, with 74 percent planning to shop
  • 24 percent say they will be doing so specifically to support Small Business Saturday
  • On Sunday, 24 percent are expected to shop

The survey also breaks down the demographics hitting the stores:

  • 77 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 76 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds plan to shop over the weekend
  • Black Friday is the day most Millennial weekend shoppers plan to shop – 86 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 78 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds.

"Millennials continue to drive the trend of hitting the stores – both on their feet and online – as soon as the turkey is finished," Prosper Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow said. "Whether they're hoping to find gifts for themselves or for the folks on their lists, they will do their research to find the best deals of the weekend and have allotted a large part of their holiday budget for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday spending."

While not included in the 137.4 million total for the Thanksgiving weekend, 36 percent of consumers say they plan to shop online on Cyber Monday, up from the 34 percent in 2015.

If you're looking to score big on internet frenzy how about celebreating CyberMonday.com's 10-year anniversary with deals of the hour?

Deals include:

  • 12-1am Apple
  • 1-2am Samsung
  • 2-3am Neiman Marcus
  • 3-4am eBags
  • 4-5am All Saints
  • 5-6am Bose
  • 6-7am Under Armour
  • 7-8am Lord & Taylor
  • 8-9am Off Fifth
  • 9-10am Kiehls
  • 10-11am Kohls
  • 11-12pm Home Depot
  • 12-1pm Wal-Mart
  • 1-2pm Overstock
  • 2-3pm Saks
  • 3-4pm Best Buy (HP)
  • 4-5pm Ashford
  • 5-6pm Things Remembered
  • 6-7pm Tumi
  • 7-8pm Lands' End
  • 8-9pm JCP
  • 9-10pm American Eagle
  • 10-11pm Wall Street Journal
  • 11-12am Teavana
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.