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Deloitte: Fewer consumers say they will shop on either Thanksgiving or Black Friday

November 27, 2013

According to a new Deloitte survey of consumers' Thanksgiving week shopping plans, 53 percent of consumers plan to head online or to the stores this weekend. While that's more than half of Americans, it's down seven percentage points from last year's survey, meaning consumers may be spreading their shopping throughout the season. Among the findings:

53 percent of survey respondents plan to shop (in stores or online) over the Thanksgiving weekend. Fewer consumers will shop in-store on Thanksgiving Day compared to last year.

Among holiday weekend shoppers:

• 53 percent plan to shop in stores on Black Friday, down from 63 percent last year
• 13 percent plan to shop in stores on Thanksgiving Day, down from 23 percent last year
• Shoppers expect to spend an average of $286 over the holiday weekend

Holiday weekend shoppers are planning to split their budget evenly between the Internet and stores.  Among those planning to shop over the holiday weekend:

• 48 percent plan to shop online, and 48 percent plan to shop in-store (catalog accounts for 4 percent)
• 19 percent plan to shop online on Thanksgiving Day – 6 percentage points higher than in the stores
• 44 percent plan to shop online on Black Friday
• 47 percent plan to shop online on Cyber Monday

69 percent of consumers say they’ll spend the same or more on the holidays than they originally planned.

• 80 percent of consumers say their spending has not been negatively impacted by last month’s government shutdown
• 63 percent say the U.S. economy is recovering (up from 48 percent at this time last year)

Consumers surveyed have a lot of gift shopping left to do this holiday season. 

• On average, shoppers surveyed have completed only 18 percent of their gift shopping to date
• Nearly half (47 percent) haven’t done any of their holiday gift shopping

Black Friday still counts, but consumers are finding additional options. Among shoppers surveyed:

• 23 percent say they’ll take advantage of early Black Friday deals online
• 48 percent say retailers offer comparable deals online and in-stores during the Thanksgiving weekend
• 59 percent plan to avoid shopping in the stores to avoid crowds – up from 49 percent in 2012
• 40 percent say they don’t rely on Black Friday or Cyber Monday as much as they used to for holiday shopping

Consumers will do their homework before shopping over the holiday weekend.

• 35 percent of consumers surveyed plan to research online before shopping in stores over the Black Friday weekend
• 26 percent of shoppers will check out products in the store before shopping over the holiday weekend
• More than half (52 percent) of consumers are expected to spend up to two hours researching Black Friday deals

Black Friday shoppers will be the young and the restless.

• 68 percent of weekend shoppers age 18 to 29 plan to shop on Black Friday
• 44 percent of Black Friday shoppers age 18 to 29 plan to hit the stores between midnight and 5 a.m., compared to 30 percent age 30 and older

The survey was commissioned by Deloitte and conducted online by an independent research company on Monday, Nov. 18. The survey polled a sample of 1,000 consumers and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus three percentage points.

Read more about consumer behavior.