A record 202.9 million consumers shopped over the five-day period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s annual holiday weekend survey conducted with Prosper Insights & Analytics. The total surpasses last year’s 197 million and exceeds both the previous high of 200.4 million set in 2023 and NRF’s 2025 projection of 186.9 million.

NRF forecasts that total holiday spending from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 will exceed $1 trillion for the first time, with growth between 3.7% and 4.2% compared with 2024.

An estimated 129.5 million people made in-store purchases, up 3% from 126 million in 2024, while 134.9 million shopped online, a 9% increase from the previous year.

Black Friday remained the most active day for both channels, drawing 80.3 million in-store shoppers and 85.7 million online. Those figures were slightly lower than 2024’s levels but remained the weekend’s peak.

Shopping activity increased during the remainder of the weekend. Saturday attracted 62.7 million in-store shoppers, slightly above last year’s 61.1 million, and 63 million online shoppers, compared with 53.9 million in 2024. The Sunday after Thanksgiving drew a record 32.6 million in-store shoppers, up 27% from 2024, and 38.7 million online shoppers, compared with 32.8 million last year.

Cyber Monday remained the second most popular day for online shopping, with 75.9 million consumers making purchases online, up from 64.4 million in 2024. Mobile devices continued to be the leading method for online shopping on Cyber Monday, used by 46.9 million shoppers, compared with 40.4 million last year.

Supermarkets (47%) and online retailers (45%) were the most common shopping destinations over the weekend, followed by department stores (40%), clothing retailers (37%), and discount stores (30%).

Nearly all shoppers (96%) bought holiday-related items, spending an average of $337.86, up from $315.56 last year. The figure is the highest since 2019. Shoppers spent an average of $225.74 on gifts, representing 67% of total spending.

Clothing and accessories were the most-purchased gift category at 51%, followed by toys at 32%. Books and other media accounted for 28% of purchases, rising from 22% last year and surpassing gift cards at 26%.

By the end of the holiday weekend, 84% of consumers had started their holiday shopping, with an estimated 53% of planned purchases still remaining.