Black Friday and Cyber Monday kick off the 2019 holiday shopping season. Here’s a look by the numbers. by Eunice Esomonu November 25, 2019 Share Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Consumers fight for TVs during the Black Friday promoted by the supermarket Extra onThursday night in Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil, November 23, 2017. Photo: ALEX SILVA/ESTADAO CONTEUDO (Agencia Estado via AP Images) Black Friday and Cyber Monday kick off the 2019 holiday shopping season. Here’s a look by the numbers. Thanksgiving weekend, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is considered the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. The general rise of shopping during those dates is important for both retailers looking at the bottom line and consumers trying to find the best deals. Here’s a look at Black Friday and the holiday season by the numbers. ⇓ SCROLL DOWN TO BEGIN ⇓ How many people will shop in-store and online over Thanksgiving weekend? An estimated 165.8 million people shopped between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday in 2018. When do people plan to shop? Last year, through the course of the long Thanksgiving weekend, 35 million consumers planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day; 116.4 million planned for Black Friday; 67.9 million on Saturday; 33 million on Sunday; and 75.8 million planned to wrap up on Cyber Monday. How much will people spend over the holiday season? The annual increase in holiday shopping since 2002 is 2.5 percent. In 2018, consumers spent about $717.5 billion dollars total and individual shoppers spent about $1,007.24 each. Where do the most people prefer to shop on Black Friday: in stores, or online? A majority of consumers in the United States (53 percent) preferred to shop both online and in stores in 2018. What is on the shopping list? Gift Cards are the most popular items on shoppers’ wish lists, requested by 60 percent of consumers, followed by clothing and accessories, at 53 percent. What will retail hiring look like for Black Friday and the holiday season? Stores hire a lot of new employees during the season to meet the demand of the holiday rush. However, a large amount of layoffs also occurs near the tail end of the holiday season. Buildups Layoffs Happy Shopping! SOURCES: National Retail Federation, McKinsey & Company, Bureau of Labor StatisticS