It’s only one week away – the mayhem of the Thanksgiving shopping weekend. Although retailers have already been offering deep discounts and deals, some consumers are still excited to plan out their shopping routes in order to snag doorbuster deals on Gray Thursday and Black Friday. However, based on a report we published today, fewer consumers may be shopping this year on Thanksgiving and Black Friday than in 2014.  We also saw a decline in consumers’ shopping intent on Thanksgiving and Black Friday last year, which accurately lined up with declines in sales data for those days.

In our latest holiday Insight Report, we compare consumers’ shopping intent for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday in 2015 to intent data stated in 2014. We also profile the likely shoppers of each day. Here are a few high-level findings:

  • At best we are likely to see “flat” sales results for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday compared to 2014, and at worst, a decline.
  • Thanksgiving Day shoppers tend to skew younger, they are more likely to spend more this holiday season than last, and they are more likely to be early adopters.
  • Black Friday shoppers also skew younger and they are much more price-conscious than Thanksgiving Day shoppers. (Also, Pinterest used CivicScience and found that “Pinners” are more likely to be Black Friday shoppers. Read more.)
  • Consumers plan to spend the most on electronics/media (although levels remain flat from last year). Clothing/accessory spending will decrease slightly this year while toys/games will see a bump in spending this year.

It seems that holiday shopping is getting more stretched out this year. Now more than ever, it’s important for retailers to keep a real-time pulse on consumers’ shopping plans, spending intentions, and shopping progress in order to better accommodate, target, and advertise to consumers. Don’t miss out on all this information.

View the full online report here.