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Holiday creep: One-fourth of Black Friday shoppers plan to start on Thanksgiving evening

November 26, 2013

Online shopping site PriceGrabber has released results of its 2013 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Survey, revealing trends for one of the most competitive shopping weekends of the winter holidays. According to the survey, the "holiday creep" continues this year with 24 percent of Black Friday shoppers planning to start shopping on the evening of Thanksgiving.

When asked whether they plan to take advantage of extended hours during the weekend, 57 percent said they do, which may bode well for retailers who open their doors on Thanksgiving. Conducted from Nov. 6 to Nov. 15, the survey includes responses from 3,473 U.S. online shopping consumers.

"As families gather for Thanksgiving, we expect to see mobile traffic increase as consumers start to look for Black Friday deals," said Jeff Goldstein, president of PriceGrabber. "With less shopping days this year, we expect a stronger Cyber Week as Black Friday shoppers will go online to look for additional deals as early as Thanksgiving eve."

Further survey results reveal the significance of the holiday shopping weekend to consumers. When asked about the importance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, 29 percent indicated they find the shopping weekend very important, saying that they spend time to research deals in advance and definitely plan on purchasing gifts. The types of discounts and products matter to 53 percent of consumers who said that the shopping weekend was somewhat important to them, and that they will shop if they find products and discounts they desire. Some consumers feel indifferent about the shopping weekend; 18 percent said that shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday isn't a priority for them.

Cyber Monday popularity remains strong

Cyber Monday (Dec. 2) will celebrate its eighth anniversary in 2013, and ofthe  popularity for one of the biggest online shopping days continues to grow. When shoppers were asked to select when they think retailers will offer their best prices during Thanksgiving weekend (choosing as many of the five days as they liked), 43 percent said Cyber Monday, a slight increase from 41 percent in 2012. When asked why they plan to shop online on Cyber Monday, 66 percent said they want to take advantage of one-day deals, discounts and free shipping offers.

Most Cyber Monday shoppers will shop early morning from home

Cyber Monday is often associated with employees returning to the office after the Thanksgiving weekend only to spend the bulk of the workday browsing for holiday deals online. However, PriceGrabber's survey data revealed that the workplace will not be the most popular location to conduct Cyber Monday shopping in 2013, with 83 percent of respondents indicating that they will shop from home. When asked when they plan to shop, 41 percent said they will shop early in the morning; 20 percent said late morning; and 17 percent said they will shop in the afternoon, while the remaining 22 percent said they will shop in the evening.

Consumers will use their mobile phone to compare prices in stores

About half of consumers will use their smartphone on Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend to shop and look for deals. When asked how they plan to use their mobile phone to shop, 50 percent said they plan to showroom, comparing prices on products while in stores.

Shoppers will do their research to find the best bargains; 40 percent said they will review Black Friday sales online before heading into the stores to shop; 36 percent will check email alerts and push notifications from their favorite retailers; 30 percent will do some shopping via their mobile device on Cyber Monday; and 22 percent plan to take photos of products and share them with family and friends.

Read more about consumer behavior.