An estimated 135.8 million shoppers (58.7 percent) may shop Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and/or Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s Preliminary Thanksgiving Weekend Survey. This statistic is similar to the 61.1 percent who said the same last year and more than the 55 percent of holiday shoppers who said they did shop in stores and online over Thanksgiving weekend in 2014.

Matthew Shay, president and CEO of NRF, said the weekend remains a crucial time of year for retailers.

“The importance of Thanksgiving weekend to both retailers and consumers will never change," Shay said. "However, retailers have already given consumers several good reasons to start their holiday shopping earlier. We suspect early holiday shoppers could still be on the fence about whether or not to try their hand at finding online and in-store deals Thanksgiving weekend.

“To make it even easier on holiday shoppers this year, we expect retailers will offer exclusive savings each day of the big weekend, including Thanksgiving and Black Friday-only deals and even extended Cyber Monday promotions throughout the week that follows,” Shay added. “But this weekend isn’t the end-all-be-all. It’s important to remember there will be several important weekends to keep an eye on before we wrap up the holiday season.”

Among those who plan to or anticipate they may shop online or in-store that weekend, most will shop Black Friday (73.5 percent vs. 68.2 percent from NRF’s preliminary survey in 2014). However, 22.3 percent say they are eagerly anticipating retailers’ Thanksgiving Day deals, compared to 18.3 percent in NRF’s preliminary 2014 survey.

Saturday is often overlooked because it’s sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but the numbers speak for themselves: 49 percent of those surveyed say they will shop in stores and online Saturday after Thanksgiving, up from the 42.9 percent in last year’s preliminary survey. One in five (23.1 percent) say they will or may shop the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

NRF also asked the Saturday shoppers if they would specifically shop for Small Business Saturday. The survey found that 22.3 percent said they would, and 54 percent said they may.

For the first year, NRF asked about plans to shop Cyber Monday. According to the survey, 79.6 percent—or a potential 183.8 million unique shoppers—said they would or may shop Cyber Monday.

Millennials are interested in being a part of the shopping experience Thanksgiving weekend. According to the survey, 77.8 percent of 18-24 year olds and 77.4 percent of 25-34 year olds said they definitely will or may shop online and in stores during the weekend.

Pam Goodfellow, principal analyst for Prosper Insights & Analytics, which conducted the NRF survey, commented on the findings.

“Millennials love shopping in stores and online over Thanksgiving weekend for several reasons, including the opportunities afforded to them that allow them to splurge on ‘non-gifts’ for themselves and even the potential to sleep in on Black Friday after having spent the night before bouncing from store to store,” Goodfellow said. “For these adults, it’s less about making room for pumpkin pie and more about going out with friends, checking out the deals through their mobile phones and experiencing retailers’ night-owl hours and perhaps making a dent in their shopping lists. Given how shoppers of all ages gravitate towards digital and online shopping experiences, there’s a high likelihood online shopping will be bigger than ever over the holiday weekend and on Cyber Monday.”

Black Friday is expected to be the biggest day for these age groups. Of those millennials who will or may shop over the holiday weekend, the survey found 84.3 percent of 18-24 year olds and 80.2 percent of 25-34 year olds say they will shop Black Friday. One-quarter (25.4 percent) of 18-24 year olds will or may shop Thanksgiving Day and nearly one-third (32.7 percent) of 25-34 year olds will make room for shopping after turkey and dessert.

In addition, 25-34 year olds also seem to be more likely to support Small Business Saturday; 34.7 percent of those who are planning to or may shop Saturday will specifically shop to support small businesses over the weekend.

And when it comes to Cyber Monday, young adults still like the idea of exclusive Cyber Monday deals. According to the survey, 88.7 percent of 18-24 year olds and 90.9 percent of 25-34 year olds say "yes" or "maybe" when asked if they will shop online Cyber Monday.

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