Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday still account for the busiest time of the year for retailers, but an increasing digital shift has many shoppers now buying holiday gifts earlier in the year, which will result in a tamer post-Thanksgiving shopping season, predicted a survey released by trade association National Retail Federation.
More than 135 million Americans — or about 58 percent of the population — will participate in the time-honored, weekend-after-Thanksgiving tradition of shopping online or in retail stores this year, according to a November NRF survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics that polled more than 7,000 consumers. This figure actually reveals a decrease from the 61.1 percent of U.S. consumers who planned to do so over that weekend in 2014, according to the NRF.
Thankfully, it’s not the economy that will keep more shoppers away from the checkout lanes — virtual or brick-and-mortar — that weekend. Digital retail now has more shoppers simply checking off their holiday lists earlier. The NRF survey found that more than 56 percent of consumers admitted they’d started their holiday shopping by early November, up from 54 percent who said they'd done so last year. This accounts for a 16 percent increase from 2008, when the NRF began gathering this data. That year, only 49 percent admitted they’d begun their shopping in the days after Halloween.
“Thanksgiving weekend shopping has evolved tremendously over the past few years and can no longer be seen as the ‘start’ of the holiday season, though there’s no question it’s still important to millions of holiday shoppers and retailers of all shapes and sizes,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “There is a real sea change happening in retail when it comes to the how, when, where, and why of holiday shopping. Consumers today are looking for great prices and value-add promotions earlier than ever before, and retailers have answered these demands in several different ways already this holiday season.”
The NRF survey found younger shoppers are especially more inclined to do their shopping early: 64.9 percent of shoppers between the ages of 25 and 34 claimed they’ve already started shopping, and 62.1 percent of shoppers ages 35-44 admitted hitting retailers early. More than 58 percent of women polled — about six in 10 — claimed they’ve already started shopping for the 2015 holiday season, compared to 54.6 percent of men.
According to the NRF survey, 46.9 percent will use an online search engine to find gifts. Facebook has increasingly become a source of shopping inspiration — 13% admitted using the site to brainstorm gift ideas — but Pinterest is gaining steam, with 8.8% of holiday shoppers admitting sourcing ideas from that site.
Black Friday sales last year accounted for about $2.68 billion, according to a December 2014 study by financial institution Fundivo. The annual retail event accounted for $2.29 billion in 2013.
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