CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Numerator, a data and tech company serving the market research space, has released new data on Thanksgiving 2024, sourced from verified purchase data and a sentiment survey of over 5,000 consumers on their 2024 holiday intentions. 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.

Thanksgiving 2024 Consumer Sentiment Findings:

• Nearly 9 in 10 consumers plan to celebrate Thanksgiving 2024. 87% of consumers plan to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, with most planning their celebrations 1-2 weeks in advance (49%).  
  • Almost three-quarters of Americans plan to attend gatherings, and half plan to cook or bake. 70% of consumers say they will gather with family and friends, followed by cook or bake at home (55%), decorate their home (27%), host others at their home (26%), and travel (14%).
  • 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%).
• 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%).
  • Wine wins at the dinner table. Among those who plan to purchase alcoholic beverages for their celebrations, the top choices are wine (70%), beer (52%), and spirits (44%).
• Nearly three-quarters of Thanksgiving shoppers will purchase at traditional grocery stores. 73% of shoppers plan to buy their Thanksgiving items at grocery stores, followed by big box stores like Walmart or Costco (49%) and liquor stores (20%). Boomers are more likely to say they will shop at grocery stores (78% vs. 73% of all consumers), while Gen Z is 1.5x more likely to say they will shop online (18% vs. 12%).
  • A quarter of celebrators plan to spend more this Thanksgiving. 32% of shoppers say they will spend between $100–$199 on their Thanksgiving items, while 31% of shoppers say they will spend between $50–$99. Nearly half (48%) say they plan to spend the same as last year, while 28% say they plan to spend more.

Thanksgiving 2023 Consumer Purchase Data Findings:

• Brands like Stove Top, Cool Whip, and French's see 3-4x growth in household penetration leading up to Thanksgiving. In the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving 2023, the brands that experienced the largest spikes in penetration (compared to the two weeks following Thanksgiving) were Stove Top (4.7x), Cool Whip (4.1x), French's (3.4x), Jiffy (3.4x), Butterball (2.9x), Reddi-Wip (2.9x), Carnation (2.8x), Ocean Spray (2.7x), King's Hawaiian (2.5x), and Martha White (2.5x).
• Over half of turkey sales happen in the final week before the holiday. In the month lead-up to Thanksgiving 2023, 22.7% of households purchased turkey, up from 22.4% in 2022. 53% of turkey sales in this period occurred in the final week before Thanksgiving.

Numerator’s Q4 2024 Holiday Preview survey was fielded to 5,347 consumers in September 2024 and highlights consumers’ celebration, shopping and spending plans for five key holidays occurring in October, November, and December 2024. Over 1,000 shoppers shared details of their Thanksgiving plans. Brand level data is sourced from Numerator Insights for the period 11/10/23-11/23/23. Turkey data was pulled using Numerator Insights for the period 10/24/23-11/23/23.

About Numerator:

Numerator is a data and tech company bringing speed and scale to market research.  Numerator blends first-party data from over 1 million US households with advanced technology to provide 360-degree consumer understanding for the market research industry that has been slow to change. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Numerator has 2,000 employees worldwide; 80 of the top 100 CPG brands’ manufacturers are Numerator clients.

Bob Richter
Numerator
212-802-8588
press@numerator.com