According to recent data, Thanksgiving online sales are up 4% compared to last year.
Reuters reported that Salesforce Inc. created the data report, which showed that retailers are experiencing a slight bump in items sold this holiday season.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are always very interesting times for online shoppers, with deals hunted high and low across the weekend. The bump in sales is a new sign for the economy that consumers are opening up their wallets to snap up discounts from retailers.
Thanksgiving sales up 4%
The National Retail Federation (NRF) has been cautious in estimating holiday sales and recruiting seasonal workers.
They have projected that retailers will be looking to hire between 400,000 and 500,000 seasonal workers this year, which is a slight prop when compared to 2023 figures.
The entity has also stated that as part of a forecast, “holiday spending is expected to reach record levels during November and December and will grow between 2.5% and 3.5%, totaling $979.5 billion to $989 billion.”
The retail tracker gave a comprehensive breakdown of the most sought-after gifts that consumers are purchasing.
They are clothing (54%), gift cards (44%), toys (36%), books, video games and other media (31%) and food/candy (30%).
The NRF report also stated that a record amount per person had been tracked, with the individual spending reaching $902. The report said, “Forty-four percent of consumers plan on using debit for their holiday purchases, compared with 39% who plan to use credit cards. A total of 57% of shoppers plan on using at least one digital wallet or app while shopping, with the top three payment methods including PayPal (30%), Apple Pay (15%) and Cash App (14%).”
Prosper Insights & Analytics Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “Younger shoppers continue to embrace social media for gift ideas, with those between the ages of 18-24 more likely to find inspiration through platforms such as TikTok (28%) and Instagram (27%).” Rist concluded, “These shoppers are also more likely than any other age group to purchase jewelry, with 30% planning to gift these items.”
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