Winter Holidays

NRF’s holiday surveys gauge consumer sentiment and shopping trends during the holiday season, including Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Super Saturday and Christmas. Check out NRF's Winter holidays FAQs and our Winter holidays historical highlights for more information on the latest holiday season and years past. Check back often to stay up to date on retail's busiest season.

Thanksgiving holiday weekend saw record number of shoppers

A record 200.4 million consumers shopped over the five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.

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Top picks for toys and gifts for the winter holidays

The latest survey from the NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics shows the top items consumers were shopping for throughout the season, including the most popular toys.

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More people than ever expected to shop during Thanksgiving holiday weekend

An estimated 182 million people planned to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday in 2023.

Black Friday shopping
 
2023 holiday reached record spending levels

The NRF forecasted that holiday spending was expected to reach record levels during November and December and would grow between 3% and 4% over 2022 to between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion.

Winter holiday shopping
 
Consumers to spend nearly $900 to celebrate the winter holidays

Those who celebrated the winter holidays were expected to spend $875 on average on gifts, decorations, food and other key seasonal items.

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Holiday by the Numbers

Slideshow: Click through the interactive slideshow for data on spending and shopping plans for the holiday season.

 
NRF's 2023 holiday retail sales outlook webinar

The 2023 Holiday Retail Sales Outlook with NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz and Vice President, Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen discussed NRF’s 2023 holiday sales forecast, consumer spending trends and where they were planning to shop during the 2023 season. View the slides.

Woman takes notes at laptop
 
2023 holiday shopping outlook

NRF looked at how consumers planned to approach the holidays in 2023 and reflected on last 2022’s insights to prepare for the season.

A couple and child shopping in winter
 

Holiday resources

Winter Holiday FAQs
 
A blue door with a holiday wreath hanging
Answers to frequently-asked questions about the holiday season.
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Retail Holiday and Seasonal Trends
 
Three women laughing and walking with shopping bags
Consumer spending data for retail holidays throughout the year.
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CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor Shows ‘Great Start to the New Year’
 
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Retail sales showed a strong beginning for the year in January, nearly matching December’s busy holiday spending.
Read more
Standing microphone decorated for the holidays

Additional media resources

Video Q&A #1

NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen discussed consumer spending expectations and shopping trends for the 2023 winter holiday season.

View and download video

Video Q&A #2

NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen with additional insights on the top items consumers were shopping for throughout the season, including the most popular toys.

View and download video

Video Q&A #3

NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen analyzed the results of the Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend and broke down where consumers were in their overall holiday shopping.

View and download video

NRF holiday press call

The NRF holiday forecast press call took place on Nov. 2. Holiday sales for 2023 were expected to increase between 3% and 4% over 2022.

Listen to the press call

NRF Thanksgiving weekend shopping forecast call

NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen discussed NRF’s Thanksgiving holiday weekend expectations.

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NRF Thanksgiving weekend shopping results call

Listen to the press call