Numerator’s 2026 second-quarter holiday preview indicates most consumers celebrating Memorial Day planned to do so at home, with 65% planning a barbecue.
Other top choices when it comes to Memorial Day festivities, according to the market researcher, include celebrating with spouse/partner or immediate family (40%), celebrating with a wider group of friends or family (30%), cooking or baking (25%) and decorating the house (15%).
As to location, 58% of Memorial Day celebrators said they plan to revel at home, 39% at a friend’s or family member’s home and 14% at a public celebration. With that, 29% of Memorial Day celebrators plan to travel for the holiday weekend, with Gen Z (43%) and Millennials (35%) more likely to travel than other generations.
As part of their plans, 94% of Memorial Day celebrators intend to do some dedicated purchasing, with food being on 81% of shopping lists, followed by alcoholic beverages (43%), non-alcoholic beverages (34%), decorations (19%) and party supplies (18%). Memorial Day shoppers are most likely to shop at Walmart (57%), followed by Amazon (22%) and Aldi (22%).
In all, 52% of U.S. consumers plan to celebrate the holiday weekend. Boomer-plus consumers (60%) are more likely to celebrate Memorial Day, with Gen Zers being the least likely (41%).
Some 45% of Memorial Day shoppers said rising prices would have a moderate to significant impact on their shopping. To combat rising prices, shoppers told Numerator they plan to seek out promotions, sales and coupons (49%) and switch to lower-priced brands and products (35%).
