The finish line for the 2021 holiday shopping season is coming up fast, and the National Retail Federation (NRF) says that consumers are preparing to turn up in droves for the final push.
NRF data shows that more than 148 million Americans are planning to do some holiday shopping on “Super Saturday” — the final Saturday before Christmas. That number, which includes visits to physical stores and digital sales, is down slightly from last year, but up from 2019.
In a year that has been marred by supply chain challenges, many consumers got the message to shop early, and that’s been particularly apparent in the toy departments where POS has remained strong as late shipments have begun to fill shelves.
“Retailers began preparations for the holiday season months in advance, offering seasonal inventory early and taking preventative measures to circumvent supply chain challenges exacerbated by the pandemic,” says NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Consumers have responded with a growing eagerness to kick off the holiday shopping season early, and they expect to carry that momentum through the last few weeks of the year.”
According to the results of recent NRF surveys, more than 54% of consumers got an early start this year with purchases made before Thanksgiving and 84% had begun shopping before December.
Toys and games continue to rank as the No. 2 gift category of choice for consumers with more than 30% of survey respondents indicating that they’d purchased toys this season. Only apparel (44%) outranks toys for space in shoppers’ baskets.
