4 in 10 US consumers plan to shop online or in-store on Black Friday,
details CouponCabin.com in November survey results. Those results are mirrored by a
Periscope IQ study, which found 38% of respondents saying they will definitely or probably shop on Black Friday, although an
Ipsos study
puts the number slightly lower, at 34%, and a WSL/Strategic Retail
study also pegs the figure at one-third. The CouponCabin.com survey
reveals that among likely Black Friday shoppers, almost three-quarters
plan to spend as much (52%) or more (21%) than they did last year, while
18% will spend less.
Black Friday isn’t for everyone, though. Further survey results from
CouponCabin.com show that many adults view the day as quite stressful.
For example, 34% indicate that the thought of all the people in one
store is scary, while 28% are wary of the item they want being out of
stock before they can purchase it, and 26% are leery of all the
competition with other shoppers. Among respondents to a
Lab42 survey,
the top reasons for not shopping on Black Friday are that it’s too
crowded, they would prefer to relax at home, and that they can find the
same deals online. Aside from that perceived lack of incentive to shop
in-store, 42% said they think Black Friday deals will be available at a
later date.
Indeed, according to WSL/Strategic Retail, 78% of Black Friday
shoppers think the crowds have become too crazy, and two-thirds think
they can get better deals online or on Cyber Monday.
There appear to be some negative opinions developing among shoppers. 6
in 10 Lab42 survey respondents said that Black Friday has changed in
the past 3 years, and it looks like they think it has changed for the
worse. 55% think it’s more crowded, 39% believe the lines to check out
are longer, and 29% think the deals are no longer as good as they used
to be.
Does Black Friday Start Too Early?
The CouponCabin.com survey finds that 31% of adults believe that
Black Friday now starts too early, as retailers open their doors on
Thanksgiving, and even the day before. But some consumers don’t seem to
want to wait: 23% of Lab42 survey respondents plan to start shopping
before 3 AM. And according to the Ipsos study, 6% of Black Friday
shoppers will actually start on Thanksgiving Day. Others will start
around midnight (21%), around 4 AM (20%), around 6 AM (9%), between 6 AM
and noon (21%), or in the afternoon (16%). To recap, according to
Ipsos, almost half of Black Friday shoppers plan to have started their
shopping by 4 AM.
Many Will Pamper Themselves
When asked what they typically purchase on Black Friday, 46% of the
respondents to the Lab42 survey said they buy things they want but
normally wouldn’t get. 42% said they buy great deals, 11% things they
need, and a tiny 1% things they’ve never seen before. This tendency to
splurge was also found by WSL: 8 in 10 Black Friday shoppers responding
to that survey said the day offers a good time to buy things for
themselves.
What kinds of things will they buy, though? A
SteelHouse survey
suggests that electronics will be top of mind, with 70% saying
electronics are on their Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping list.
Other popular categories include media (50%), clothing and shoes (44%),
toys (38%), home goods (30%), and jewelry (14%).
Other Findings:
- Per survey results from LivePerson, 17% of shoppers will do most of their shopping on Black Friday, while a study from Google and Ipsos finds 12% saying they will do most of their shopping that day. Results from a Discover survey show 36% saying they would do a majority of their holiday shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- Asked if they plan to shop on Black Friday, 18% of Ipsos survey
respondents said they would do so primarily in-store, 4% primarily
online, and 10% both online and in-store.
About the Data: The CouponCabin.com survey was conducted
online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of
Coupon Cabin from October 26th – 30th, 2012 among 2,231, adults ages 18
and older. The online survey is not based on a probability sample and
therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
The Periscope IQ survey was conducted online among a representative sample of 1,000 consumers aged 18 and older.
The Ipsos data is based on polls conducted October 4-8, 2012 and
September 8-13, 2011. For the surveys, nationally representative samples
of 1,001 randomly-selected adults aged 18 and over residing in the U.S.
were interviewed via Ipsos’ U.S. Telephone Express omnibus.
The WSL/Strategic Retail Black Friday study was conducted as an
online survey from November 1-5, 2012, among 1,020 adult shoppers ages
18+.
The Lab42 survey was conducted among 500 American shoppers aged 18 and older.
The SteelHouse data is based on an online poll of 400 nationwide consumers, conducted by SteelHouse and Instant.ly.
The LivePerson survey was conducted among 500 respondents, all of
whom were over 18 and had shopped online at least twice in the past 3
months.
The Google and Ipsos data is based on interviews conducted via an
online quantitative survey from 8/20/12 – 8/27/12, yielding a total
sample of 1,500 holiday shoppers.
The Discover Holiday Shopping Survey was conducted online with 506
male and 497 female adults. The research was conducted from Oct. 26 to
Oct. 30, 2012, by Penn Schoen Berland.
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