US Thanksgiving weekend records 197 million shoppers, retail body says

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Dec 3 (Reuters) - About 197 million Americans shopped over the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday this year, data from the National Retail Federation showed on Tuesday.

The number of shoppers exceeded the retail body's prior expectations of 183.4 million, but was still lower than the 200 million shoppers in 2023.

During the long weekend, consumers on average spent $235, or $8 more than 2023, with top gifts purchases being apparel and accessories, followed by toys as well as personal care, the retail trade body's report showed.

The data signals retailers' success in countering a shorter shopping window this year and bargain-focused shoppers through blockbuster deals.

"Even with this year's shortened shopping period and the multitude of early sales promotions from retailers, this past weekend exceeded expectations in terms of the sheer volume of shoppers," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

With only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, the NRF expects holiday sales to grow at its slowest pace.

Black Friday was the most popular day during the Thanksgiving weekend with about 81.7 million consumers shopping in stores and about 87.3 million shopping online, the report said on Tuesday.

U.S. e-commerce sales surged 14.6% during Black Friday, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, while in-store sales edged up 0.7% from last year.

Customers increasingly opting to shop on their mobiles and laptops instead of heading into stores, encouraged U.S. retailers to go all out with aggressive promotions and deals on websites and apps.

Retail giant Walmart WMT.N has been offering varied deals on categories ranging from Samsung TVs to Lego and Hot Wheels toys through its pre-Black Friday discounts which began on November 11.

Target TGT.N, on the other hand, slashed prices by $100 on certain products including 75-inch Westinghouse TV and also introduced 50% discounts on toys.

Top selling categories on Cyber Monday ranged from electronics to jewelry, data from Adobe Analytics showed.

(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

((AnujaBharat.Mistry@thomsonreuters.com;))