Thanksgiving 2024 Shelf Report
What went out on shelf last Thanksgiving might surprise you
With Simbe, you could have seen it coming.
The week leading up to Thanksgiving is one of the busiest periods of the year for grocers. Nearly 80 million Americans traveled for the holiday in 2024—creating compressed, high-pressure shopping windows as households stocked up before hitting the road or hosting at home.
Even with strong shipping volume and full backrooms, late sets, execution misses, and overlooked categories meant many products never reached the shelf when shoppers needed them most.
Simbe analyzed real-world shelf data from the 7 days leading into Thanksgiving 2024 (Nov 21–27) across leading grocery retailers. The findings first reveal which departments were hit hardest, then dive deeper into the categories that drove those gaps.
Top Out-on-Shelf (OOS) by Department
🥧 Baking Essentials: Crisis at the crust, fix the staples or the dessert falls apart
OOS baking items rose 87% the week of Thanksgiving, led by sugars (+169%), pie crusts and fillings (+158%), and extracts (+132%), all peaking on November 27 as pre-holiday demand surged.
Daily OOS by Baking Category
🍺 Beer: Keep the party from running dry
Beer OOS rose 68% the week of Thanksgiving. Party packs and heavier styles spiked mid-week as displays thinned. The steepest climbs came from stouts (+84%), lagers (+78%), and light beers (+76%), with variety packs peaking at 6.5% OOS on November 27—among the highest in beverages. Realograms would have surfaced mis-faced or underfaced sets before the toast.
Daily OOS by Beer Category
🍽️ Kitchen Supplies: Foil. Forks. Fix it fast.
Kitchen Supplies OOS rose 60% the week of Thanksgiving. Early checks and replenishment could have kept shoppers stocked during the rush. Kitchen organization (+164%), utensils (+152%), and disposable plates and utensils (+111%) saw the sharpest increases, with utensils peaking on November 27.
Daily OOS by Kitchen Supply Category
🐾 Pets: Don’t forget the fur family
OOS pet items rose 54% the week of Thanksgiving. Pet aisles peaked earlier than core grocery, and prioritizing these sets sooner could have kept more shoppers happy—two-legged and four. The steepest increases came from bird products (+76%), dog supplies (+62%), and general pet items (+59%), peaking between November 25 and 26.
Daily OOS by Pet Category
🚗 Auto: Are the shelves ready for the road?
OOS auto supplies rose 37% the week of Thanksgiving. Travel-prep items peaked mid-week as shoppers packed up for the holiday, and daily shelf visibility could have caught shortfalls before the road trips began. The biggest increases came from maintenance and care products (+49%), parts (+35%), and auto accessories (+25%), which peaked between November 23 and 26.
Daily OOS by Auto Category
Never be surprised by what’s missing again
Simbe helps retailers turn real-time shelf data into daily decisions ensuring every product, in every store, is ready when shoppers are.
The stakes are real: in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, shoppers met empty shelves, and 1 in 3 say they’d shop less or stop shopping altogether when faced with poor availability.
Preventing those moments starts with visibility.