Thanksgiving weekend sees 165M shoppers across US

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA

More than 165 million Americans shopped during Thanksgiving weekend, while Cyber Monday set a sales record, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

The figure surpassed the estimated 164 million shoppers who said last week they would shop between Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, the groups said in a statement Tuesday.

During that period, more than 89 million people shopped online and in stores, spending and average of $313.29 on gifts and holiday items.

For in-store shopping, Black Friday saw more than 67 million shoppers and Small Business Saturday had 47.4 million. Online shopping, Cyber Monday saw 67.4 million shoppers, while Black Friday saw 65.2 million shoppers, according to the groups.

“This year’s research clearly shows that the investments made by retailers are paying off in a big way," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

The positive outlook during Thanksgiving this year is "driven by macro conditions of low unemployment and rising wages combined with the right mix of merchandise at great prices," he added.

U.S. unemployment hit its lowest level in September since 1969 with 3.7 percent, while the annual increase in wages is above 3 percent for first time since 2009. Consumer confidence rose in October to an 18-year high.

Sales on Cyber Monday rose 19.7 percent from last year to $7.9 billion, and has become the largest online shopping day ever in U.S.

Thanksgiving Day saw 28 percent growth to $3.7 billion in online revenue from last year, while Black Friday grew 23.6 percent r to $6.2 billion.

Saturday and Sunday, meanwhile, set a new record as the biggest online shopping weekend in U.S. by posting $6.4 billion, Adobe Analytics said Monday.

Revenue from smartphones hit $2.1 billion on Cyber Monday and made the highest year-over-year growth with 48.1 percent, it added.

"Sales coming from smartphones hit an all-time high of $2 billion and we saw a significant spike in the Buy Online, Pickup In-Store trend," said John Copeland, head of Marketing and Customer Insights at Adobe.

Buy Online, Pickup In-Store over the weekend increased 50 percent year-over-year, according to Adobe.