US Shoppers To Spend $26B On Dec. 22

Data shows that this coming Saturday — December 22 — is poised to be the biggest shopping day of the year.

Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, said that U.S. shoppers are expected to spend an estimated $26 billion on Saturday, more than the $24 billion spent on Black Friday.

“Black Friday is not quite the epic event it used to be,” Johnson said in an interview with Bloomberg. As holiday sales inch earlier, demand gets “pulled forward from Black Friday proper.”

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, 44 percent of U.S. adults plan to shop on “Super Saturday” for holiday presents, spending an average of $173 in-store and online.

And Johnson said that retailers should be happy about what day Christmas happens to fall on this year. With it on a Tuesday, there are two full travel days between Saturday and the Christmas Day, which offers last-minute shoppers all day Saturday to buy holiday gifts before setting out to travel on Sunday or Monday.

“If Super Saturday occurs and Christmas is Sunday, then it slows it down. It’s hard to buy gifts when you’re on an airplane,” Johnson explained. “The classic weekend is perfectly situated for all these procrastinators.”

In October, a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey found that consumers are expected to spend an average of $1,007.24 while holiday shopping this year — a 4.1 percent boost from last year. And according to the National Retail Federation, sales for the last two months of the year are expected to reach anywhere between $717.45 billion and $720.89 billion, excluding autos, gas and dining out.

“Last year’s strong results were thanks to growing wages, stronger employment and higher confidence, complemented by anticipation of tax cuts that led consumers to spend more than expected. With this year’s forecast, we continue to see strong momentum from consumers as they do the heavy lifting in supporting our economy.”