On your marks, get set, go! On your marks, get set, go! Shoppers must recover from their Thanksgiving food comas earlier this year since the shopping period between Thanksgiving and Christmas totals just 26 days, five days less than 2023, when Thanksgiving was in the third week of November. Traditionally, Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, kicks off the holiday shopping season. In 2023, Black Friday fell on Nov.
24, and shoppers had seven days until they hit the desperate rush of December. This year Black Friday falls on Nov. 29, leaving only two shopping days until December.
In recent years there’s been a consumer trend of early shopping, and the National Retail Federation estimated that 2 out of every 5 holiday shoppers would start browsing and buying before November. NRF and Prosper Insights &Analytics estimates that a record 183.4 million people will shop during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Still, NRF estimates that most holiday shoppers will wrap up in December and purchase their last gifts in the week leading up to Dec. 25, or Christmas, which falls on a Wednesday. Last-minute shoppers will have even less time this year, and stores must push out deals even earlier if they hope to meet or surpass 2023 levels.
Small Business Saturday, which was founded by American Express in 2010 to help small businesses thrive and since 2011 has officially been co-sponsored by the Small Business administration, is on Nov. 30. But Cyber Monday — the day for online deals.