According to new research from Numerator, the vast majority of U.S. consumers say they plan to celebrate Thanksgiving, with food as the top planned purchase (89%) and a quarter of consumers expecting to spend more on their Thanksgiving purchases this year compared to last year.

The research, based on purchase data and a survey of over 5,000 consumers, also found that most people plan their celebrations one to two weeks in advance (49%).

“Almost three-quarters of Americans plan to attend gatherings, and half plan to cook or bake. … Younger celebrators are more likely to get out of the house. Gen Z celebrators are more likely to travel for the holiday (17% vs. 14% of all consumers), go out to eat (9% vs. 7%), go out for drinks (7% vs. 3%) and attend a public celebration (6% vs. 3%). They are also over twice as likely to say they will order food for takeout or delivery (13% vs. 6%).”

Numerator said that food and non-alcoholic beverages are the top items to buy for Thanksgiving 2024. Almost all celebrators (89%) say they plan to purchase food for Thanksgiving, followed by non-alcoholic beverages (32%), alcoholic beverages (31%) and decorations (18%).

Among those who plan to purchase alcoholic beverages for their celebrations, the top choices are wine (70%), beer (52%) and spirits (44%).

Nearly half of shoppers (48%) say they plan to spend the same amount of money as last year, while 28% say they plan to spend more.

Car travel is set to break a record this Thanksgiving. Research from AAA projects 79.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, with 71.1 million of them traveling by car. AAA said that for the first time, AAA’s forecast includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day “to better capture the flow of holiday travelers. This year’s projection of nearly 80 million travelers is an increase of 1.7 million people compared to last year and 2 million more than in 2019,” AAA said.