IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Nearly 203 million people shopped during the Thanksgiving weekend, a record for that five-day period, according to the National Retail Federation.
That number is up from 197 million shoppers in 2024, and it tops the previous record of 200.4 million set in 2023, the trade association reported.
This year’s number total also exceeds NRF’s prediction of 186.9 million shoppers during the long weekend that is the start of the holiday shopping season.
An estimated 129.5 million consumers shopped at a brick-and-mortar store, an increase of three percent year-over-year. Online attracted 134.9 million shoppers, up nine percent from 2024. Black Friday was the favored shopping day for both methods: 80.3 million in-store shoppers and 85.7 million online, slightly below last year’s totals of 81.7 million and 87.3 million.
The top shopping destinations during Thanksgiving weekend were supermarkets (47 percent) and online (45 percent). Forty percent shopped at a department store, 37 percent visited a clothing store and 30 percent shopped at a discount store, the federation reported.
