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You would not want to put items in your basket at the store without planning to buy them, right? But online, it's a different story.
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Park Meadows in Colorado(Photo: Csondy, Getty Images)

Forget the dessert. Millions of Americans abandon the Thanksgiving dinner table to get to the mall.

In past years, buyers had to queue before Black Friday to have the first dibs on holiday deals, a number of retailers are opening their doors before the dishes have been cleared of the holiday feast. And many are more willing to jump from football to shopping until they fall.

According to the National Retail Federation, a professional group of the sector, more than 164 million people plan to shop during the Thanksgiving weekend, or 21%, or 34 million.

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Reduced price seekers who do not want to brave the cold do not have to leave the house at all. they can buy sales by clicking on a keyboard. Consultancy PwC predicts that over 70% of shoppers plan to start ticking their holiday lists on Thanksgiving Day and 55% are expected to shop online, up from 45% last year.

Thanksgiving will not be the biggest online shopping day of the weekend. Cyber ​​Monday is expected to be the winner, spending is expected to increase 17.6% to $ 7.8 billion, according to the Adobe Analytics software publisher. Follow Black Friday, with a forecast increase of 17.2% to $ 5.9 billion. Thanksgiving online sales are expected to grow 16.5% to $ 3.3 billion.

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While the Thanksgiving weekend officially marks the start of the holiday shopping season, Walmart, Amazon and JC Penney are among the retailers who have started tendering a few days or even weeks earlier in the race to win. client.

Retail spending over the holiday season is expected to increase 4.3 to 4.8% from 2017, reaching a total of about $ 717 to $ 721 billion, according to the National Federation of Retail Trade.

About 20 customers entered the Cabela in Gainesville, Virginia on Thursday morning, while "Santa Claus Comes to Town" played slightly in the background. The outdoor clothing and hunting store opened at 8 am across the country on Thanksgiving, which promised its customers holiday shopping.

However, as in many other stores, Cabela's keeps its heavier artillery for Black Friday. On the North Virginia site, an entire section in the center of the store is covered with plastic wrap, with signs saying "Just like Mom said, no fool! See you on Friday 23/11 at 05h00. "

Ben Tobin of USA Today contributed to this report.

For gift ideas and dates on offers, check out gifts.usatoday.com.

TO CLOSE

You've saved a little money, your credit card is ready to be used and ready to digest the turkey meal while waiting outside your local Best Buy to grab a bargain on Black Friday. Susana Victoria Perez has more.
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