While shoppers have spread out their holiday spending across Thanksgiving weekend in recent years, Black Friday remains at the top of the shopping totem pole, with 116 million people making purchases that day, according to National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. What’s the reason? More than half (56%) of shoppers still say it has the best deals, according to a Deloitte survey.
Even more shoppers (82%) said they shop in stores on Black Friday to take advantage of the deals, while 63% plan to take advantage of early Black Friday deals online. But many consumers (45%) have yet to decide which retailer they will shop over the entire weekend. Top shopping destinations for in-store shoppers include mass merchants (45%), department stores (43%) and electronics/office supply stores (33%), the survey said.
Holiday shoppers say they’ll spend an average of $420 between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, with Cyber Monday set to take the biggest share of dollars at an average of $170.
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“People have responded to the early promotions that retailers have put in play to outdo the competition — from early Black Friday deals to free shipping — but the event still holds its place as a holiday tradition,” said Rod Sides, Vice Chairman, Deloitte LLP and U.S. Retail and Distribution Leader in a statement. “Most people maintain the perception that the best deals are on Black Friday, but it’s also become a day for spending time with family and friends. The same appears to be true for the group of people who have made Thanksgiving Day shopping their family tradition. We see an even bigger draw toward Cyber Monday, which is set to attract shoppers both in-store and online and capture the most dollars spent over the weekend.”
Nearly 73% plan to shop online Cyber Monday, which also is poised to take nearly half (47%) of all online spending occurring over the entire weekend.
Shoppers have mapped out their mobile and online backup options to manage the holiday rush:
- 51% would go to another retailer if a site has technical issues;
- 41% would buy something online while in-store if they get better pricing; and
- 27% would check out while using their mobile device in the store to avoid long lines at the register.
It appears Thanksgiving Day still represents a minority of revenue generated as stores close on the holiday: 26% of weekend shoppers plan to head to the stores on Thanksgiving Day, and slightly more, 29%, will shop online. The main reasons people plan to shop in stores on Thanksgiving is to get a head start on the deals (68%), and because they enjoy shopping with family and friends or it’s become a Thanksgiving ritual (55%).
