Super Saturday: Shoppers out on last weekend before Christmas
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- It's the last full shopping weekend before Christmas, which means you might be doing some last-minute shopping for friends and family.
We usually hear about Black Friday, but according to the National Retail Federation, in 2021, 148 million people shopped on Super Saturday.
A report from the U.S. Department of Commerce showed retailers are expecting a six to eight percent increase in holiday sales over last year.
At the Cherry Hill Mall, it was packed with shoppers looking for deals. The mall was setting up a pop-up holiday market with more than 30 local vendors.
What should you expect if you go out to shop this weekend?
"It's one of the busiest shopping days of the year. So they can expect crowds," said Lisa Wolstromer, senior marketing director at the Cherry Hill Mall. "They can also expect to find great deals because a lot of our retailers have great promotions. We have our holiday markets so they can shop local and support local businesses. It's going to be a great day."
"Super Saturday has at times surpassed Black Friday for crowds and shopping," Wolstromer added. "If people are going to come shop, I would say come early, before noon, or come later in the evening after 7 p.m. when crowds come down, if they don't want to be shoulder-to-shoulder shopping with people."
Whether you're looking for deals online or in-person, experts suggest you examine the store's return policy since some are different this season.
Here are a few places you can go to find some coupon codes:
Another tip to get around those return fees: try going in-person to the store rather than online to see if the retailer has some type of return hub.
"During the height of the pandemic, we all got used to these liberal return policies that retailers were offering," said Jamie Lettis of Delaware Valley Consumer Checkbook. "Everyone was shopping online, ordering multiple sizes. It got very costly for the retailers to process all of these returns. So now a lot of key players have added return shipping fees that didn't use to have them."
Also, today is the last day the U.S. Postal Service guarantees holiday gifts will arrive on time if without having to spend more for Priority Mail.
