ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The National Retail Federation estimates 142 million people will hit the shops for “Super Saturday” to pick up last-minute gifts ahead of Christmas.
According to the NRF, Super Saturday is known as the last Saturday before Christmas.
Included in the NRF’s forecast is a list of Top 10 gifts consumers have bought so far.
Clothing comes in at No. 1 at 50%. Some of the other items include toys at 34%, gift cards at 27% and books and other media at 24%.
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Miguel and Jade Gonzalez were doing some shopping for a few people on their list on Friday at the Altamonte Springs Target.
“We have three people we have my mother-in-law, my father-in-law and we’re getting the last-minute gifts for my daughter,” Jade Gonzalez said.
She said they’re looking for toys, clothes, gift cards and perfume.
Several shoppers at Target said they were still able to find their gifts, but Christmas decorations were a different story.
“There’s not a lot of holiday things left,” said shopper Lisa Howes. “There’s a lot of other things like cards and clothes but the holiday stuff cleaned out so if you still haven’t decorated, you’re not going to.”
Matt Pruitt, vice president of Blacks Retail and local retail analyst, said he’s not surprised to see the NRF’s prediction.
“The calendar aligns perfectly for that and the general retail market, the specialty market in particular, has been very strong all year,” Pruitt said.
He also said it’s no surprise clothing is number one on the NRF’s list.
“Going back to the types of stores that we work with, they’re primarily clothing-based, accessory-based, jewelry-based and the like. If I think about the categories of apparel that are doing well this season, outerwear is completely knocking it out of the park,” Pruitt said. “The earlier it was delivered the better it was doing for all of our stores.”
Pruitt also shared his thoughts on what he thinks last-minute shoppers will gravitate toward.
“Going back to what the National Retail Federation was indicating, I think those last-minute shoppers are really going to splurge on handbags and jewelry because those are the items that at the beginning of the season they said ‘that’s my ace in the hole,’” Pruitt said. “‘If I can’t get creative enough to buy something that’s special and I just can’t work it out, I always have that handbag to buy, that piece of jewelry to buy,’ it’s emotionally very accessible to the consumer.”
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