With more retailers launching major sales events earlier this season (some even started last Friday), there is fierce competition for wallet share. We know from a previous poll that consumers don’t plan to substantially increase their total holiday spending this year, so this means that many retailers are doing whatever it takes to get those limited dollars spent with them vs. with other businesses.
So what do consumers think of the Black Friday and Thanksgiving retail offerings in 2014?
Let’s start with the basic knowledge that only 21% of consumers actually enjoy the holiday shopping experience — while a good many try to reduce their trips, or are shifting more shopping to online:
What we learned in a recent analysis of consumers’ plans for Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day shopping in 2014 is that:
- U.S. adult consumers say they are 19% less likely to shop on Black Friday this year compared to last year.
- Electronics and Media products rank the highest in wallet share plans for Black Friday this year, while Toys and Games planned spend is down from 2013.
- There is no change in the percentage of adult consumers who plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day this year.
- Among those who do plan to shop on these days events, it’s the “deals” that draw them more so than the experience.
So it seems that while deals do lure a certain group of consumers out to the stores, the total % of consumers shopping on these days is not growing. A larger shift to online shopping and retailers offering deals prior to Thanksgiving may further be eroding the shopping traffic on these days.
Keeping in mind that people often say one thing but do something else, the data we collected to measure Black Friday and Thanksgiving shopping “intent” this year is just that — an attempt to see if behavior will follow sentiment. That said, behavior and point-of-sale data following Black Friday will tell the real story — whether the deals are so irresistible that they change plans at the last minute.
Read our full report online here.
