Physical stores remained a crucial component of Thanksgiving weekend shopping in 2021, as 61% of holiday weekend shoppers, approximately 114 million adults, spent money at physical stores from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to a Nov. 29 ICSC survey of 1,013 U.S. consumers.

Seventy-eight percent of U.S. adults, or some 200 million people shopped or spent money this Thanksgiving weekend on goods and services. Three-quarters of the consumers who shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday visited malls or other shopping centers during that period.

Fifty-one percent cited seeing or touching merchandise as a primary motivation for visiting stores, while 43% mentioned a general preference for in-store shopping and 35% noted an interest in browsing for gift ideas. Shoppers were also motivated to support small business owners; 52% spent with small or locally owned community businesses.

Sophisticated omnichannel operations paid off this Thanksgiving weekend; 72% who purchased items online and picked them up in-store spent additional money at that store or at the same shopping center. And more shoppers felt comfortable dining and enjoying entertainment than last year; 56% spent money on dining, personal services or entertainment over the weekend, an increase from 48% in 2020.