NRF: Data Interpretation of the 2013 Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Season

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and everyone has something to say about the shopping season, which is hopefully going to be much nicer than the weather in some parts of the country right now. Survey results consistently show that more consumers will shop on Thanksgiving, and the enthusiasm for Black Friday has been waning over the past few years. Although Cyber ​​Monday is not technically part of the weekend but an addition, it is likely to break some e-commerce records according to comScore. This article will collect some of the research and discussion related to the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.
According to the latest NRF survey conducted in the first week of this month, 31% of consumers said they are likely to shop during Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday through Saturday), while another 31% are considering doing so. During the four-day holiday, the majority of consumers (69%) said they "will" or "may" shop on Black Friday. Among consumers who said they are likely to shop, 44% plan to shop after Black Friday (Small Business Saturday), and nearly a quarter plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day, which is very consistent with earlier survey results. In addition, when asked where they will look for ideas for holiday gifts this year, NRF respondents generally said they will look online (47.9%), followed closely by looking in retail stores (43.6%). Other popular sources of inspiration are friends and family (39.9%), flyers (36%), television (34.7%) and catalogs (33.7%).
• The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) believes that 61% of American adults will shop during Thanksgiving weekend, which is surprisingly consistent with the NRF survey results. CEA calls the purchase of technology products "the new tradition of Thanksgiving weekend." On the shopping list of this year's Thanksgiving weekend, 31% of consumers plan to buy electronic products: 30% of them are tablets, 29% are laptops, 29% are video game consoles, and 22% are TVs.
• Some interesting data from DDB Worldwide shows that while many Americans will be shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, it is not their preferred time to shop. Instead, respondents mostly prefer to shop on weekday evenings (28%) and weekdays (26%) between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Black Friday (17%), Cyber ​​Monday (9%) and Thanksgiving weekend (10%) are not the most popular times.
• Why is Black Friday no longer so popular? Consumer reports indicate that 56% of consumers do not want to shop on these days, most of which is to avoid the crowds (70%). Other reasons for not wanting to shop are that they think the merchants are exaggerating (34%), they are ready to do something else (33%), they wait until after Black Friday to shop (17%) and they prefer to shop online (13%). Of course, 44% of the respondents said they plan to shop on Black Friday, and the reasons for their shopping are that they think this is the best deal of the year (55%), big price cuts (43%) and convention (23%).
• This discussion wouldn’t be complete without mentioning mobile devices, and thankfully the IAB has done just that. According to the IAB, 45% of parents with kids under 13 plan to shop this weekend. And nine out of ten of these smartphone owners will use their devices to assist them in their shopping. How are Black Friday shoppers using their smartphones to help them shop for their kids? The majority of respondents (55%) will use their smartphone to verify product availability before heading to the store, while half will use it to track in-store sales and research gift ideas. 47% use it to check for better prices in stores (obligatory showroom alarm), and 44% will use it to buy gifts.
• But wait, there’s more mobile shopping data. Luckily, BiTE Interactive’s survey also has some information about millennials, as no market research would be complete without it. The survey found that Hispanics (40%) and millennials (18-24; 37%) are the savviest mobile shoppers, which means they are more likely to choose showrooming on Black Friday. By comparison, 24% of respondents overall said they would shop in a showrooming format on Black Friday.
• As for Cyber ​​Monday, ValueClick has published some research showing how it differs from regular shopping days last year. Apparently, on most weekdays, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. is the peak time for online shopping, but on Cyber ​​Monday, the biggest transactions occurred between 6:30-10:30 p.m. This was also the peak time for tablet transactions, with 43% of transactions occurring during these four hours. Smartphone transactions saw a smaller peak at noon and 1 p.m.