More than 158 million consumers are expected to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas this year, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Super Saturday is one of the key retail days in the Christmas season, and this year 10 million more shoppers are expected to hit the stores. This is the highest forecast number since NRF first started tracking this data in 2016.

“Consumers have been shopping in record numbers this year, purchasing holiday items for friends and loved ones,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “With Super Saturday falling eight days before Christmas, retailers are prepared to help shoppers fulfill their last-minute purchases that will make this holiday season memorable.”

Of the 158.5 million anticipated Super Saturday shoppers, 44.1 million (28 percent) plan to shop only in stores, 42.2 million (27 percent) plan to shop only online, and 72.2 million (46 percent) plan to shop both in stores and online.

Clothing and accessories is the most popular Christmas purchase, with 50 percent of surveyed consumers having bought these as gifts so far.

Purchasing to continue after Christmas

In line with the cost of living crisis, 70 percent say their shopping plans include buying after Christmas Day, with most sales starting on Boxing Day. The NRF said this is on par with pre-pandemic levels for post-Christmas shopping.

“Strong shopping is expected after Christmas as holiday shoppers aim to take advantage of retailers’ sales and promotions,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “In the week following Christmas Day, we expect to see consumers maximize holiday sales and promotions, use gift cards and return or exchange unwanted gifts.”

NRF defines the holiday season between November 1st and December 31st and has forecast that retail sales will grow between 6 and 8 percent over 2021 to between 942.6 billion dollars and 960.4 billion dollars.

The survey of 7,857 consumers was conducted between December 1st and 7th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points. For more information visit www.nrf.com.