Deloitte releases pre-Thanksgiving survey results
Consumers still have a lot of shopping to do, and more than half will shop over Thanksgiving weekend.
November 24, 2014
Research firm Deloitte has released the results of its 2014 pre-Thanksgiving survey, detailing U.S. consumer plans for gift-buying in the coming weeks. The survey polled a sample of 1,000 consumers last week and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus three percentage points.
Among the findings of the survey:
Consumers have a lot of shopping left to do — and may spend more than originally planned for the holiday season.
- 46 percent of consumers haven’t completed any of their holiday shopping to date.
- Consumers have completed just 18 percent of their gift shopping to date.
- 81 percent of consumers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season than they did just a month or two ago — up from 69 percent in last year’s survey.
54 percent of consumers plan to shop over the Thanksgiving weekend, with more consumers planning to shop online than in the stores. Among consumers shopping over the holiday weekend:
- More than half (52 percent) plan to shop online.
- 45 percent plan to shop in-store.
- Shoppers plan to spend an average of $295 over the holiday weekend.
Nearly half of weekend shoppers will hit stores on Black Friday, though slightly down from 2013. Among holiday weekend shoppers:
- 48 percent plan to visit stores on Black Friday, down 5 percentage points from 2013.
- 13 percent of consumers plan to shop in-store on Thanksgiving Day, the same as in 2013, but will spend an average of $86 on that day, an increase of 16 percent over last year.
- Among those going to stores on Thanksgiving Day, nearly half (46 percent) plan to so by 5 p.m.
- Four in 10 (39 percent) Black Friday shoppers heading to the stores plan to go at 6 a.m. or earlier.
Equal amounts of respondents will be shopping in-store and online on Black Friday. Among holiday weekend shoppers:
- 51 percent plan to shop online on Cyber Monday — up four percentage points over 2013.
- 48 percent plan to shop online on Black Friday — the same percentage as those planning to shop in stores.
- 21 percent plan to shop online on Thanksgiving Day — 8 percentage points higher than in stores.
- Additionally, among all survey respondents, 40 percent said they intend to complete their online purchases early this year to avoid shipping delays.
Traditions of sales and family time still count for those heading to the stores on Black Friday. Among Black Friday shoppers:
- 85 percent of Black Friday shoppers say they’ll be shopping in stores to take advantage of sales.
- 35 percent say they shop for the overall excitement.
- 33 percent say they enjoy shopping with friends and family on this day.
Crowds remain a key factor keeping some shoppers at home on Black Friday; One-third plan to shop local retailers the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Among all survey respondents:
- 67 percent say they aren’t motivated to shop on Thanksgiving Day because it’s important to spend the day with family and friends.
- 59 percent pan to avoid stores on Black Friday to avoid crowds.
- 41 percent say they don’t rely on Black Friday or Cyber Monday as much as they used to for holiday shopping.
- 26 percent say Black Friday deals aren’t as good as they used to be — up five percentage points from 2013.
- One-third (33 percent) plan to shop on the Saturday after Black Friday to support local retail businesses.
Retailers’ websites — more than Black Friday deal sites — are the top source of information for researching Black Friday deals.
- 37 percent of respondents plan to research online before shopping in stores on Thanksgiving weekend.
- The No.1 resource for information about Black Friday sales is retailers’ websites (33 percent), followed by Black Friday deal websites (31 percent) and newspapers (27 percent, down 5 percentage points from 2013).
- Nearly half (49 percent) of consumers plan to spend up to two hours researching Black Friday deals.
