Survey Expects 150M Shoppers to Hit Retailers Saturday Before Xmas

A new survey shows that a near-record number of Americans plan to go on a Christmas shopping spree this Saturday, CNBC reported.

Citing a National Retail Federation survey, the news outlet reported on Thursday that 150 million shoppers plan a Christmas-present run that day, up slightly from 147.8 million in 2019 — with 42% planning to do their spending online.

According to the NFR survey, the volume is the second-highest figure reported since it began tracking the statistic in 2016, CNBC reported. Last year, the so-called Super Saturday fell four days before Christmas.

CNBC noted the massive spree will put the pressure on UPS and FedEx, which have been handling an increase in traffic since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

But as delivery surcharges skyrocket along with the high volume of deliveries in the final days before Christmas, actual arrival times may not beat Santa, CNBC reported.

As many as 7 million packages a day could face delays from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas, Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix, a firm that analyzes shipping package data, told CNBC.

NFR’s survey also projected that during the holiday season — Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 — retail sales will jump between 3.6% and 5.2% from last-year levels. That would mean sales totals between $755.3 billion and $766.7 billion, CNBC reported.

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