WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 147.8 million U.S. consumers are expected to participate in shopping on Super Saturday, the Saturday before Christams, according to the annual survey released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
"The last Saturday before Christmas has become the biggest shopping day of the year, and we expect an impressive turnout by procrastinators and those who just want to take advantage of really good deals," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.
The number of people shopping on Super Saturday includes both in-store and online activity and is up 10 percent from last year, the survey showed. The estimated 147.8 million figure compares with 189.6 million unique shoppers over the full five-day Thanksgiving weekend, which ran from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.
As of early December, 86 percent of holiday consumers had started shopping and they had completed 52 percent of their purchasing for the season, the survey showed, noting that the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is relatively short this year.
More than half (56 percent) of holiday shoppers plan to purchase their last gift during the week before Christmas, which falls on next Wednesday, and 62 percent are expected to shop on Super Saturday, the survey showed.
"Most of us are guilty of having that one last gift we need to buy," Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. "Men and younger consumers continue to be the biggest procrastinators and are expected to turn out in force on Super Saturday."
Top gift purchases so far included clothing (49 percent), toys (31 percent), gift cards (28 percent), books and other media (27 percent) and electronics (24 percent), the survey showed. A quarter of shoppers (25 percent) plan to give "gifts of experience," like tickets to a concert or sporting event.
NRF defines the holiday season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 and has forecast that sales will total between 727.9 and 730.7 billion dollars. Consumers expect to spend an average 1,047.83 dollars - including purchases made earlier - for an increase of 4 percent over last year, according to an earlier NRF survey.
