Report: U.S. Shoppers to Spend $26B on Super Saturday

Retailers are looking forward to this coming Saturday (Dec. 22), as it's shaping up to be the biggest spending day of the year. U.S. shoppers will spend an estimated $26 billion on Saturday, beating the $24 billion they spent on Black Friday, according to industry researcher Customer Growth Partners via Bloomberg. What's more, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, 44 percent of U.S. adults plan to shop for holiday presents or related items on Saturday, spending an average of $173 in-store and online. That’s up from the 38 percent who shopped on Super Saturday last year. Although Black Friday used to be America’s biggest single shopping day, the final Saturday before Christmas — Super Saturday as it has become to be known in some cities — has taken that title as more retailers begin their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day, or even weeks before, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners. 

Total Retail's Take: Why will Super Saturday be such a super day for retailers this year? It's two-fold, at least according to Customer Growth Partners. First, confident consumers are spending more in total this season. Second, Christmas falls on a Tuesday, meaning there are two full travel days between Saturday and the official holiday rather than the one travel day last year’s Monday Christmas offered. That gives shoppers all day Saturday to spend before Sunday or Monday departures. “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 noted. “The classic weekend is perfectly situated for all these procrastinators.” Luxury brands like Tiffany & Co. and Prada SpA will get an outsized share of that spending, Johnson said. Why? Because a big charge made on Dec. 22 won’t appear until a January credit card statement, meaning it could be paid for with year-end bonuses arriving in early 2019.