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If Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, Super Saturday – the last Saturday before Christmas – puts an end to it. Stores offer hefty discounts to last minute shoppers to generate as much revenue as possible.
Though technically December 24 is the last Saturday before Christmas this year, December 17 was observed as Super Saturday as stores will shut down earlier on Christmas eve (read: ETF Strategies for December).
Having said this, we would like to note that the shopping spree is still alive among consumers. On December 16, NRF issued an article saying that “the average holiday shopper has completed 52.5 percent of their shopping, down from last year’s 53.5 percent.”
In fact, when it comes to last-minute shopping, 38% are likely to have shopped sometime before December 18 while 12% of consumers are likely to be done by December 23, as per NRF.
As per RetailNext, “the busiest shopping days of the year show Super Saturday at the top of the list” in terms of footfall, leaving Black Friday and the Friday before Christmas behind. However, Friday before Christmas will likely see the highest sales, followed by Super Saturday and then Black Friday.
How Is Holiday Shopping Going On This Year?
From the data that we have received so far, holiday shopping is pretty decent this time but is showing a shift in pattern.
For example, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, about 66% of Americans, or 155.7 million people, are expected to shop on Super Saturday while 154 million are projected to have shopped over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The fact is that Super Saturday is offering better deals than other days and is more pertinent for Christmas shopping than buying almost a month ago. Last year, Black Friday sales declined 12% while Super Saturday sales saw a 4% jump, according to retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners.
How to Invest on the Euphoria on Late Shopping
Below we highlight a few ETF options to cash in on the trend. Our choices cater to both those who want to bet on last-minute shopping and on the categories, that last minute shoppers are choosing.
As per the source, as against baby boomers who tend to shop early, millennials prefer to do it late. Secondly, millennials are splurging on spending. Their shopping cart has 12.7% more load than last Christmas and the spree is expected to continue. Moreover, total spending increased 13.4% year over year. So there are good reasons to bet on MILN (read: 5 Millennial Friendly ETF Investing Ideas).
Now who can forget online retail ETF – the most important medium of shopping? In-store purchases have been hitting the brakes lately with surging demand for technologies. This is especially true as online holiday sales are expected to increase 7–10% to as much as $117 billion in November and December as per the National Retail Federation (NRF).
This retail ETF should definitely be there on the shopping list. This product tracks the S&P Retail Select Industry Index. The fund has a tilt toward small-cap stocks. Apparel retail takes a considerable share of the fund. Now, with 21% of consumers planning to spend on clothing and 14% choosing local/small business, this small-cap retail ETF deserves a look. The fund has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
This Zacks Rank #1 retail ETF has huge exposure to Amazon (15.74%) followed by Home Depot (7.98%) and Wal-Mart Stores (6.54%). All these companies are known for huge holiday season business. Investors should note that “parcel-delivery services expect to deliver a record number of packages this holiday season as Amazon.com and other e-commerce players are busier than ever.” Also, as much as 42% of Americans are likely to hit department stores like Wal Mart.
The fund targets consumer discretionary stocks which have cheaper valuation but are trending. The companies should be financially sound and relatively smaller in size. Retailing has about 46.1% weight in the fund.
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5 Last Minute ETF Deals Before Christmas Eve
If Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, Super Saturday – the last Saturday before Christmas – puts an end to it. Stores offer hefty discounts to last minute shoppers to generate as much revenue as possible.
Though technically December 24 is the last Saturday before Christmas this year, December 17 was observed as Super Saturday as stores will shut down earlier on Christmas eve (read: ETF Strategies for December).
Having said this, we would like to note that the shopping spree is still alive among consumers. On December 16, NRF issued an article saying that “the average holiday shopper has completed 52.5 percent of their shopping, down from last year’s 53.5 percent.”
In fact, when it comes to last-minute shopping, 38% are likely to have shopped sometime before December 18 while 12% of consumers are likely to be done by December 23, as per NRF.
As per RetailNext, “the busiest shopping days of the year show Super Saturday at the top of the list” in terms of footfall, leaving Black Friday and the Friday before Christmas behind. However, Friday before Christmas will likely see the highest sales, followed by Super Saturday and then Black Friday.
How Is Holiday Shopping Going On This Year?
From the data that we have received so far, holiday shopping is pretty decent this time but is showing a shift in pattern.
For example, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, about 66% of Americans, or 155.7 million people, are expected to shop on Super Saturday while 154 million are projected to have shopped over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The fact is that Super Saturday is offering better deals than other days and is more pertinent for Christmas shopping than buying almost a month ago. Last year, Black Friday sales declined 12% while Super Saturday sales saw a 4% jump, according to retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners.
How to Invest on the Euphoria on Late Shopping
Below we highlight a few ETF options to cash in on the trend. Our choices cater to both those who want to bet on last-minute shopping and on the categories, that last minute shoppers are choosing.
Global X Millennials Thematic ETF(MILN - Free Report)
As per the source, as against baby boomers who tend to shop early, millennials prefer to do it late. Secondly, millennials are splurging on spending. Their shopping cart has 12.7% more load than last Christmas and the spree is expected to continue. Moreover, total spending increased 13.4% year over year. So there are good reasons to bet on MILN (read: 5 Millennial Friendly ETF Investing Ideas).
Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY - Free Report)
Now who can forget online retail ETF – the most important medium of shopping? In-store purchases have been hitting the brakes lately with surging demand for technologies. This is especially true as online holiday sales are expected to increase 7–10% to as much as $117 billion in November and December as per the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Also, about 52% of last minute shoppers have planned to target the online mode, as per NRF. This makes IBUY an intriguing ETF deal for Christmas (read: ETFs & Stocks to Roar Higher on Record Online Spending).
SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT - Free Report)
This retail ETF should definitely be there on the shopping list. This product tracks the S&P Retail Select Industry Index. The fund has a tilt toward small-cap stocks. Apparel retail takes a considerable share of the fund. Now, with 21% of consumers planning to spend on clothing and 14% choosing local/small business, this small-cap retail ETF deserves a look. The fund has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
VanEck Vectors Retail ETF (RTH - Free Report)
This Zacks Rank #1 retail ETF has huge exposure to Amazon (15.74%) followed by Home Depot (7.98%) and Wal-Mart Stores (6.54%). All these companies are known for huge holiday season business. Investors should note that “parcel-delivery services expect to deliver a record number of packages this holiday season as Amazon.com and other e-commerce players are busier than ever.” Also, as much as 42% of Americans are likely to hit department stores like Wal Mart.
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Consumer Discretionary ETF
The fund targets consumer discretionary stocks which have cheaper valuation but are trending. The companies should be financially sound and relatively smaller in size. Retailing has about 46.1% weight in the fund.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>