Black Friday: What to expect?

The annual shopping bonanza is just around the corner, what can we expect? Here are some graphs that helps to answer a few basic questions: where, when, and how much are they going to shop?

In Store vs. Online: a zero-sum game?

Savvy shoppers are now utilising both online and offline channels to hunt for the best deal: 64.6 million consumers shopped both in store and online last year. Those that choose to only visit stores are now in the minority. Shops might look emptier than ever, but sales figures continue to blossom. Black Friday has simply shifted from an in stores frenzy to an online phenomenon.

For those who choose to shop online, an overwhelming 94 percent plan to utilize free shipping services, while half of those online shoppers prefers to buy online and picking it up in physical stores. Only 16% are willing to pay for expedited shipping.

Shopping: when and why?

Shopping will be spread out across the whole Thanksgiving weekend, with larger crowds on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 67 million of shoppers are planning to shop on Small Business Saturday, while a whooping 78 percent do so specifically to support local small businesses.

A total of 164 million consumers are planning to shop. But they do so for different reasons: while everybody loves a good deal, the younger generations are more attracted by the social side of shopping, and value it as part of a family tradition. The emotional value of the Thanksgiving weekend is not to be overlooked - they may go shopping simply because it is engrained in their holiday memories, other than hunting for the cheapest deal.

Source: National Retail Federation