Black Friday might be the busiest day of the shopping year, but more and more people are deciding to stay home for the retail holiday and shop online.
The AAA Consumer Pulse Holiday Shopping survey found that 46 percent of holiday shoppers will take part in Black Friday sales events the day after Thanksgiving, staying steady from last year. However, 1-in-3 — or 33 percent — will do the majority of that shopping online.
That means Cyber Monday, as it has become, will be bigger than it’s ever been before. The online shopping day has seen the number of customers taking part rise 14 percent since 2010, with 63 percent of holiday shoppers expected to take part in Cyber Monday sales.
However, there are many traditional shoppers as well, with 28 percent of all holiday shoppers telling the survey they usually wait until the final two weeks of November to purchase their gifts.
“Retailers are trying to grab customers’ attention earlier every year,” said Belinda Dabrowski, managing director of AAA Partnership Development, in a release. “That can only help consumers who, according to our research, may spend slightly more this year, but are still looking for a good deal.
“Economic factors like lower gas prices leave customers with extra money in their pockets, which helps raise consumer confidence and spending.”
Consumer confidence is at its highest level since July 2007, according to a Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan survey. This season, 14 percent of shoppers will spend more on gifts than they did last year thanks to an increase in disposable income, a stable labor market, and gas prices at a four-year low.
Apparel and accessories remain the most popular items for holiday shoppers, with gift cards close behind at 65 percent. Books and toys are just under 40 percent of popularity, while jewelry is 36 percent.
The Consumer Pulse Survey was conducted online among 1,210 residents living in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee between Oct. 20 and Nov. 3. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points, and were weighted by gender and age within each state to ensure what AAA said was a reliable and accurate representation of the adult population in those three states.
