Top Ten Busiest In-Store Shopping Days of the Holiday Season

By SBE Council at 19 October, 2023, 9:39 am

by Rieva Lesonsky – 

Are you ready? A few weeks ago, we shared the advice of retail expert Bob Phibbs, who told retailers to get their holiday merchandise on the shelves now to capture a significant share of consumer spending.

But that doesn’t mean shoppers won’t be cramming into your stores on the more traditional holiday shopping days as well. Chain Store Age (CSA) says, according to an analysis from the retail traffic consulting and analytics group of Sensormatic Solutions, the busiest days of this year’s holiday shopping season will likely be (in order) Black Friday (November 24), Super Saturday (December 23), and the third Saturday in December (December 16).

CSA notes that the top 10 busiest holiday shopping days account for about 40% of all holiday retail traffic. And it adds that since Christmas Day is on a Monday this year, the Sensormatic data predicts the busiest shopping days will be towards the end of the season.

The historical data also indicates that since Veterans Day (November 11) falls on a Saturday this year, stores will see more customers that day.

The 10 busiest shopping days of the 2023 holiday season:

1.) Friday, November 24 – Black Friday

2.) Saturday, December 23 – Super Saturday

3.) Saturday, December 16 – 3^rd Saturday in December

4.) Friday, December 22 – Friday before Christmas

5.) Saturday, November 25 – Saturday after Black Friday

6.) Tuesday, December 26 – Day after Christmas

7.) Saturday, December 9 – 2^nd Saturday in December

8.) Saturday, December 2 – 1^st Saturday in December

9.) Saturday, December 30 – Saturday after Christmas

10.) Sunday, December 17 – Sunday before Christmas Eve

Sensormatic Solutions president Tony D’Onofrio advises retailers to supplement the Sensormatic data with their own “internal data and analytics tools to refine their approach to promotions, staffing, and customer experience in November and December.”

Holiday shopping stock image by pikaneo/Shutterstock

Want more trends? Find more at Currents.

Rieva Lesonsky is president and CEO of two companies that focus on small business and entrepreneurship – GrowBiz Media and SmallBusinessCurrents.com. She’s a nationally-known speaker, best-selling author, award-winning journalist, and authority on entrepreneurship who has covered the industry for more than 40 years. Before starting GrowBiz Media, she was the long-time editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine. Lesonsky has written several books about small business, including the best-selling Start Your Own Business, and Small Business Hacks: 100 Shortcuts to Success.