NRF: Holiday Shopping “Off to a Great Start”

By Karen Dybis | December 02, 2025

Holiday traditions and the desire to take advantage of price discounts drew a record 202.9 million shoppers into stores and online over the long Thanksgiving weekend, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said on a Dec. 2 media call.

According to a survey of approximately 3,100 consumers conducted Nov. 26–30 by the NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics, the number of people shopping from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday surpassed the previous record of 200.4 million, set in 2023. Last year’s number was 197 million.

“We’re off to a great start,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay told reporters during the call. “This is a great foundation to meet our forecast that holiday spending will surpass $1 trillion for the first time, with growth between 3.7% and 4.2% over 2024.”

Shopping was split between brick-and-mortar and electronic devices, with about 129.5 million people going to stores (up 3% over 2024) and an estimated 134.9 million shopping online (a 9% increase from last year), said Shay.

Black Friday was the top shopping day of the Thursday-through-Monday period both in store and online—about 80.3 million people shopped in store and 85.7 million purchased online the day after Thanksgiving.

Despite inflation, it’s still important to consumers to check off their holiday gift lists, Shay noted.

“Holiday spending and shopping is an essential part of [consumers’] budgets,” he said. “It’s an emotional purchase, so they save and spend. They see it as an investment.… The five-day Thanksgiving weekend is the psychological start to the holiday shopping season, so it gives us an accurate pulse check on the health of consumers and the economy in general.”

Shoppers are looking for value, so promotions are key to getting people of all income levels in the door or adding to their online carts, Shay added.

“Consumers are looking for attractive deals,” he said. “This year’s record turnout reflects a highly engaged consumer who is focused on value, responds to compelling promotions, and seizes upon the opportunity to make the winter holidays special and meaningful.”

As of the end of Cyber Monday, 84% of consumers had begun their holiday shopping, according to the NRF survey. The top gifts purchased during the Thanksgiving weekend were clothing and accessories (named by 51% of respondents), followed by toys (32%).

Books and other media saw an increase from 22% last year to 28% and surpassed gift cards (26%) as the third most popular gift purchased during the weekend, the NRF said.

(Photo: Getty Images)