80% of Americans Plan to Shop on Thanksgiving Day

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By Paul Ausick Updated Published
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80% of Americans Plan to Shop on Thanksgiving Day

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While there are lots of complaints about stores being open on Thanksgiving Day, Americans vote with their wallets more than their feet. Half of U.S. consumers surveyed recently plan to shop online on the holiday while 15% said they would shop only in stores, 19% plan to shop both online and in stores, and just 16% said they don’t shop on Thanksgiving Day.

The survey was conducted on behalf of BFAds.net, a website that collects and posts retailers’ Black Friday advertising supplements.

Because Black Friday has been stretched to a week-long (or longer) event, nearly a third of shoppers (30%) say they plan to begin their searches for the perfect gift before Thanksgiving and 26% said they plan to begin on Thanksgiving Day while 44% will wait until Black Friday.

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More than half (51%) said they plan to spend the same amount as last year and 27% said they plan to spend more.

Shoppers will be looking for Black Friday deals on the following items:

  • Clothing/accessories: 61%
  • Laptops/Tablets: 46%
  • Toys: 37%
  • Video Games: 33%
  • Home Goods: 47%
  • TVs: 38%
  • Jewelry: 18%
  • Cameras: 18%
  • Other: 3%

Shoppers plan to spend their time and money with the following retailers:

  • Amazon: 68%
  • Wal-Mart: 64%
  • Target: 57%
  • Best Buy: 49%
  • Shopping Malls: 42%
  • Kohls: 37%
  • eBay: 19%
  • Sears: 16%
  • Other: 5%

U.S. shoppers remain convinced that Black Friday sales offer the lowest prices. Some 61% say they shop on Black Friday because of the low prices. And shoppers hit the stores hard: only 4% said they shop in just 1 to 4 stores and 92% plan to visit between 2 and 19 stores on Black Friday. A determined 4% said they’ll shop at 20 or mores stores on Black Friday.

Methodology
Survey firm Survata conducted the study for BFAds.net. Visit the Survata website for details on how their surveys are done.

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Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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