An estimated 56.9 million American adults (45 percent of all shoppers) have bought or plan to buy tech products during the Thanksgiving shopping week – which includes the Monday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday – according to a new report released today by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™, formerly the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®. The 2015Post Black Friday Survey finds the number of online and mobile shoppers is quickly approaching the number of in-store shoppers this year.
“Black Friday is in the books, and consumers have once again shown a strong preference to buy tech,” said Shawn DuBravac, Ph.D., chief economist and senior director of research, Consumer Technology Association. “Consumers began shopping deals and promotions the Monday before Thanksgiving, and momentum continued throughout the week, peaking with the traditional Black Friday weekend.”
Changing Retail Landscape: Online and Mobile Shopping Grows
Online and mobile device shopping played a critical role in driving shopping traffic this Thanksgiving holiday week, among the 125 million Americans planning to shop throughout the week. A combined 85 percent of those who shopped did so online or via mobile, compared to 94 percent who shopped in physical stores. Of those who shopped Black Friday Week 2015, 74 percent shopped online and 57 percent shopped using a mobile device (such as a smartphone or tablet) – consistent with CTA’s Pre-Black Friday predictions (2015 Pre-Black Friday Survey).
Among Americans who shopped online this year, 85 percent cited avoiding crowds as their top reason, 79 percent said saving time and 78 percent cited finding better or similar deals online compared to in stores. Interestingly, 57 percent of consumers indicated they chose to shop online to enable them to shop outside of physical store hours.
2015 Black Friday Week Spending and Shopping Traffic
CTA estimates Americans will spend $40 billion over the entire 2015 Thanksgiving shopping week. Consumers who shopped spent an average of $319 – a 14 percentage point decrease over 2014, yet higher spending than in 2013. In total, 27 percent of U.S. adults shopped on Black Friday (up from 24 percent in 2014) and 10 percent shopping on Thanksgiving Day (down from 14 percent last year).
“Black Friday shopping continues its evolution into a full week shopping period, no longer solely defined by crowded stores and doorbuster deals,” said DuBravac.
Top Tech for Black Friday
Among the 56.9 million American adults who bought or planning to buy tech products over the 2015 Black Friday Week, the top 10 tech purchases is expected to be:
1. Smartphones
2. Televisions
3. Tablets
4. Tech accessories
5. Laptops
6. Videogame consoles
7. DVD/Blu-Ray Players
8. Headphones
9. Fitness activity trackers
10. Digital media streaming devices
“For the first time, emerging tech products such as fitness activity trackers and digital streaming devices broke into the top ten most-purchased tech products over the holiday shopping week,” said DuBravac. “The perennial Black Friday tech favorites such as smartphones and televisions dominated American’s tech purchases again this year.”
According to CTA’s holiday outlook, total tech spending during the entire holiday shopping season will increase 2.3 percent to reach a record $34.2 billion in 2015.
Cyber Monday Predictions and Looking Ahead
The shopping week isn’t over yet – 44.3 million U.S. adults (18 percent) plan to shop on Cyber Monday, on par with last year. Additionally, 105 million U.S. adults who shopped or plan to shop Black Friday week say they will still have some shopping to do by the end of the holiday week.
Over half of Americans will consider themselves all done (14 percent) or mostly finished (36 percent) with their holiday shopping at the close of the shopping week. On the other hand, 11 percent of Americans indicate they have not started their holiday shopping, 20 percent have barely started and 17 percent say they still have a lot more shopping left.
To view CTA’s full 2015 holiday outlook, visit CTA.tech/holiday.
CTA’s 2015 Black Friday Survey presents the findings of a dual-frame telephone interview to a random national sample of 1,003 U.S. adults between November 27 and 28, 2015. Please cite any information to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™. The complete report will be available November 30 for free to CTA member companies at members.CTA.tech. Non-members may purchase the study in the CTA Store.
