Kentucky retailers are gearing up for a strong holiday stretch run, as the National Retail Federation projects a historic number of consumers will shop on “Super Saturday” — the final weekend before Christmas.
This week’s NRF survey estimates that a record 158.9 million consumers will finish their last-minute shopping on Saturday, Dec. 21. This figure is up from 157.2 million shoppers last year as well as the previous record of 158.5 million shoppers in 2022.
“The 2025 holiday shopping season has been one for the record books,” said Tod Griffin, president of the Kentucky Retail Federation. “From our main streets to our malls, retailers across the Commonwealth are working overtime to ensure that Kentuckians secure the perfect gifts for all the special people on their Christmas lists.”
Approximately 71.6 million (45%) of “Super Saturday” shoppers said they plan to shop both in-store and online, 46.2 million (29%) plan to shop exclusively in-store, and 41.1 million (26%) plan to shop online only.
Top destinations where consumers plan to finish their shopping include: online (46%), department stores (33%), and discount stores (26%).
The most popular gift items so far this holiday season include: clothing and accessories (48%), toys (30%), gift cards (27%), books, movies, video games and other media (25%), and personal care or beauty items (23%).
The survey found that more than three in ten shoppers (31%) plan to give an experience this year, such as event tickets, art classes, etc. This category has grown in popularity over the past decade, as only 22% of shoppers expected to give an experience in 2015.
Looking ahead to the end of the year, 70% of consumers plan to shop the week immediately after Dec. 25. The top reasons include taking advantage of holiday sales and promotions (45%) and using gift cards (26%).
NRF’s survey, conducted Dec. 1-10, polled 8,005 adult consumers nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.
The Kentucky Retail Federation is a non-profit trade association representing diverse businesses across the Commonwealth — from department and drug stores to hardware, apparel and building supply retailers.
For more information about the KRF, please visit kyretail.com.
Kentucky Retail Federation