Early holiday forecasts from Deloitte, among other consulting firms, predicted a slow build to the shopping season, with little growth likely between 2.3 and 3.3 percent across the season.

Reports indicate that the 2024 holiday shopping season has more than its fair share of deal-focused consumers putting value at the top of their shopping lists. And while deals starting as early as July have captured their attention for a lengthy spending season, this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend promises to stand on its own.

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According to Deloitte’s “2024 Black Friday-Cyber Monday Survey,” consumers will likely spend $650 during these shopping events — up 15 percent year-over-year and setting a new record. Year-over-year, Deloitte’s data finds that participation in Black Friday and Cyber Monday has remained steady with 80 percent of survey respondents reporting that they plan to shop during the week.

Moreover, the authors of Deloitte’s holiday shopping report found that spending during the Thanksgiving weekend has accelerated since 2021 with consumers across all demographics and income levels planning to spend more, though especially Gen Z shoppers and those consumers with incomes less than $50,000 or over $200,000.

Brian McCarthy, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP, pointed out that this year consumers have a shorter holiday shopping season due to Thanksgiving falling late in November and combined with a deal-focused consumer, Deloitte “expects to see holiday shoppers spend big during Black Friday-Cyber Monday promotions as they seek to close out their holiday shopping lists in a shorter timeframe.”

“We continue to see the week evolve as a hybrid event, but online retailers are taking the top spot for the preferred format for the first time among those surveyed,” said McCarthy. “This reinforces the importance of offering a consistent omnichannel experience to draw in consumers whether they plan to shop in-store, online, or both.”

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers plan to spend more, 45 percent of consumers told Deloitte they “have already experienced higher prices for holiday items this season,” nearly a third of respondents also said that retailers are discounting less. With these sentiments in mind, shoppers plan to spend the majority of their holiday budgets during the promotional week.

Consumers told Deloitte that they plan to spend more than half of their holiday budgets during the Thanksgiving promotional period, up from 47 percent in 2023. Sixty-nine percent of survey respondents said they preferred to shop at online-only retailers, while 65 percent said they preferred to shop at mass merchants during this time — marking the first time that online-only retailers took top place in Deloitte’s annual survey.