The five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday saw an estimated 197 million shoppers, according to research from the National Retail Federation. The NRF said the figure is the second highest number after last year’s record of 200.4 million, and surpassed NRF’s initial expectations of 183.4 million shoppers.

“Thanksgiving weekend retains its prominence among holiday spending events and continues to play a significant role in the holiday season for both consumers and retailers,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Even with this year’s shortened shopping period and the multitude of early sales promotions from retailers, this past weekend exceeded expectations in terms of the sheer volume of shoppers.”

Shoppers “opted for convenience both in-store and online throughout the weekend. A total of 126 million consumers shopped in-store, up from 121.4 million in 2023. Online shoppers totaled 124.3 million, down from 134.2 million shoppers last year.” Cyber Monday shopping was down, totaling 64.4 million consumers compared with 73.1 million in 2023.

The top shopping destinations during Thanksgiving weekend were department stores (42%), online (42%), grocery stores and supermarkets (40%), clothing and accessories stores (37%) and discount stores (32%), according to the NRF.

“Additional offerings like free shipping, a limited sale or promotion or a positive review helped convince most shoppers to move items from their shopping carts to the purchase finish line,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said.

NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31 and has forecast that holiday spending is expected to reach record levels and will grow between 2.5% and 3.5% over 2023, totaling $979.5 billion to $989 billion.