Super Saturday

This article is about the Christmas shopping event in the U.S.. For the U.S. primary election event, see Super Saturday primaries.
In the United Kingdom, "Super Saturday" refers to Day 8 of the 2012 Summer Olympics, when the U.K. recorded its most successful day at the Olympics in 104 years. In rugby, "Super Saturday" refers to a day during the annual Six Nations Championship on which all six competing teams are playing matches.
Super Saturday
Observed by United States
Type Commercial
Celebrations Shopping
Date Last Saturday before Christmas
2015 date 19 December
2016 date 24 December
2017 date 23 December
2018 date 22 December
Frequency annual
Related to Christmas Eve, and Christmas

Super Saturday or Panic Saturday is the last Saturday before Christmas, a major day of revenue for American retailers, marking the end of the shopping season they and many customers believe begins on Black Friday. Super Saturday targets last-minute shoppers. Typically the day is ridden with one-day sales in an effort to accrue more revenue than any other day in the Christmas and holiday season.[1]

Sales

Super Saturday typically nets approximately $15 billion in retail sales.[2] To compete with each other, stores offer significant discounts and extend store hours in an attempt to attract customers and drive impulse buying.[3]

Super Saturday accounts for a significant portion of the holiday sales for retail stores. In 2006, a study determined that sales between December 21 and 24 accounted for 13.6 percent of holiday sales.[4] (In 2006, Super Saturday fell on December 23.) Some businesses do as much as 60 percent of their sales on this day.[5]

In an effort to attract customers, stores often extend their hours during these crucial days of the retail season. Some stores go as far as to leave their stores open all day long until Christmas Eve in hopes that customers will take the extra time during off-peak hours to both review alternative options and to spread out workloads for cashiers.[4] Because stores predict double or triple their typical customer turnout on Super Saturday, many increase their staffing during these critical days to be able to handle the demand.[6]

Shoppers

The day typically nets a significant amount of revenue for retailers because of the demand by shoppers. 2009 reports indicated that by the middle of December, more than half of all shoppers in the United States still had more holiday shopping to do.[7] Some experts predicted that approximately 40% of consumers hadn't started their holiday shopping by Super Saturday in 2009, with some customers citing full-time jobs as impeding their access to stores earlier in the year.[6] Cathy Bergh from The Christmas House notes that the day is significant because it is "the last chance [for shoppers] to get out and do their shopping."[1]

Some shoppers, however, intentionally wait for Super Saturday to finish their shopping due to the availability of discounts. Alternative reasons for waiting until the final Saturday to make holiday purchases include ensuring that purchases are within budget. Other customers choose to do their shopping early in an attempt to avoid the long lines and large crowds associated with the retail holiday.[7]

Unlike Black Friday, online shopping does not typically infringe upon retail stores' access to customers. Due to Super Saturday's proximity to Christmas, shoppers are typically reluctant to venture online for deals, as purchases may not be able to arrive in time for the holiday.[2] However, this is not always the case. If customers are unable to gain access to the stores, like what happened during the North American blizzard of 2009, customers who have little time left to buy their gifts may be forced online.[8]

Other usages

Super Saturday can also be used for any Saturday where a large number of related events are held. In the context of the Eurovision Song Contest for example, the Saturday on which most broadcasters organize their national final is often declared as Super Saturday.[9]

The final Saturday of the US Open in tennis is called "Super Saturday". If the tournament is running to schedule and has not been delayed by inclement weather or similar, both the men's semi-finals and the women's final are played on this day, with the men's semi-finals in the afternoon, then the women's final at night.

The phrase was also used (mainly by the British media) to refer to the middle Saturday of the 2012 Summer Olympics (4 August) where Team GB athletes Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford, Danielle King, Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell, Tom James, Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs-Hodge, Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking all won gold medals.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Nick Natario. "Holiday Shoppers Pack Stores on Super Saturday". WETM TV. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 Sy, Stephanie; Herman, Charles; Francescani, Chris. "Will Blizzard Blow Away Sales?". ABC News. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Black Friday returns today for procrastinators". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  4. 1 2 Nicole Maestri (21 December 2007). "Stores desperately seeking shoppers on Super Saturday". Reuters. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  5. ↑ John Carney. "Winter Storm Threatens to Bury "Super Saturday"". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  6. 1 2 Alcides Segui. "Super Saturday". Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  7. 1 2 The KFBB News Team. "Super Saturday Shopping". KFBB News. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  8. ↑ Dodes, Rachel; Zimmerman, Ann (20 December 2009). "Snowstorm Threatens 'Super Saturday' Sales". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  9. ↑ "Mark it down: Super Saturday is this weekend".
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