ICSC: Shoppers to spend more than half of holiday budget on Thanksgiving weekend

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Nov 13, 2017

Retailers and consumers are less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving weekend, the biggest shopping season of the year. As the weekend is fast approaching, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) released its 2017 Pre-Black Friday Consumer Survey.
 

The survey maps out consumer expectations for shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. According to the survey, 84% of consumers expect to shop over the Thanksgiving weekend and spend an average of $470.20, which is more than half of their anticipated spend for the entire holiday season. Much like in past years, Black Friday is to be a busy shopping day and expects to see over 122 million at malls and shopping centers nationwide.
 
Thanksgiving weekend shoppers also intend to spend more this year than last year, which supports a Mintel report from August that expects total 2017 US retail sales in November and December to surpass the previous year by 1.8%. While 82% of shoppers will spend on gifts over Thanksgiving weekend, 55% will dine and 36% will go to the movies.

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“Consumer optimism this holiday season is reflected in how people are engaging in Black Friday,” said Tom McGee, President and CEO of the International Council of Shopping Centers. “We believe retailers who embrace omnichannel will see more success than their pureplay counterparts. What’s clear is shoppers are eager to hit the stores to kick-off a busy shopping season.”
 
Omnichannel is expected to see much traffic year. 93% of shoppers plan to buy from omnichannel retailers and 43% will take advantage of buying online and picking up in-store.
 
In addition, 85% of consumers expect their holiday gift purchases to be influenced by deals or promotions, with 93% planning to shop at discount department stores, 68% at dollar/variety stores, and 63% at off-price retail stores.