Thanksgiving Spending Spree: US Consumers Set New Shopping Record in 2024

Thanksgiving may be a time of appreciation for good things in life, like spending time with family and friends over a delicious dinner. It’s also apparently a time for holiday spending, as TechCrunch pointed out.

TechCrunch cited figures from Salesforce that suggested Americans had spent $8.1 billion dollars during Thanksgiving, most shopping from the comfort of their homes as many stores were closed. That number represents an increase of 8% over spending from last year’s Thanksgiving, even though the average selling price ticked upward by only 2%. It appears that U.S. consumers were hungry for more than turkey and stuffing.

The outlet also reported data coming from Adobe Analytics, and these numbers didn’t exactly mesh with Salesforce’s. Adobe indicated that U.S. shoppers spent $6.1 billion during Thanksgiving, an increase of nearly 9% over last year’s $5.6 billion. The disparity between Adobe’s figures and those coming from Salesforce can be explained by differing methodologies.

One thing is certain, however: A combination of deep discounts, buy now, pay later (BNPL) adoption, and the growth of e-commerce more broadly have bolstered hopes of a big holiday season for retailers.

Thanksgiving Spending: Discounts, BNPL, and Cyber Week Trendlines

As quoted by FOX Business, Adobe Digital Insights Lead Analyst Vivek Pandya chalked up the increased consumer activity around Thanksgiving to “bigger-than-expected discounts,” which “propelled impulse shopping in categories like electronics and apparel.”

Electronics were discounted by 26.5% and toys took a downward price hike of 27.2%, per Adobe, while apparel saw a price cut of 22.6%. Additionally, furniture was discounted by 16.3%, sporting goods by 19.1%, and appliances by 19.2%.

As Forbes detailed, BNPL spending during the Thanksgiving holiday was also up. Adobe data suggested that purchases made using BNPL were up 10.3% year-over-year, coming in at the $430 million mark in 2024.

As quoted by Forbes, Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce, spoke out on the Thanksgiving spending figures — and what she expected to come next.

“Back in the spring of 2024, nearly two thirds of consumers reported that they were waiting for Cyber Week deals to make splurge purchases,” Schwartz said.

“The sales and order growth over the last few days implies that these shoppers stayed true to their word. This could be the strongest Cyber Week we’ve ever seen,” she added.

Shopify President Harley Finkelstein was equally optimistic about the holiday sales spree’s apparent strength.

“We’re just a few hours into Black Friday in North America, but the excitement is already building across the globe, with merchants gearing up for a strong weekend,” Finkelstein stated, per Forbes.

Shopify data suggested that Thanksgiving shoppers were at their busiest well after the dinner rush had concluded (9 p.m. ET) and that the average cart size, at least on its platform, was $164.47.