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.

 

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