Approximately two million additional shoppers over last year’s number are expected over the holiday weekend, including Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday.

Consumers have started their holiday shopping earlier this year over last year as well, due in part to record supply chain disruptions. Phil Rist, Executive Vice President of Strategy for Prosper, a consumer research firm, revealed that shopping early is a trend which “began long before the pandemic.”

Another expected change this year will be an increased number of shoppers who will be doing so in brick-and-mortar stores, up 50% over 2020.