Report: younger consumers are still excited for Black Friday

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Sep 1, 2017

Amazon Prime Day in 2017 surpassed the global sales of Black Friday 2016 and impacted retail foot traffic, which may lead many to believe that the summer online shopping day has eclipsed the holiday shopping weekend. According to research from Mintel, younger customers are still interested in Black Friday.
 

The report found that 42% of winter holiday shoppers are most likely to say they like to shop in stores on Black Friday, almost double the amount of holiday shoppers overall. Though younger customers are not letting go of Black Friday, Cyber Monday still remains the most popular shopping day of that weekend, with 30% of American shoppers saying they like to shop online on Cyber Monday.
 
45% of winter holiday shoppers agree they prefer to shop wherever they get the best deals, regardless of whether it is in-store on online. 40% of consumers are most likely to look online for deals and 34% set a budget for the best deals overall.

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Finally, 84% of consumers say they plan to shop online this upcoming holiday season. 45% of consumers feel the internet has changed how they shop during the holidays, with 26% of consumers going online to research items before buying in-store and 15% planning to do more shopping in stores, but end up shopping online.
 
“Black Friday is not dead, with younger shoppers proving to be a bright spot for the unofficial kick-off to holiday shopping,” said Alexis DeSalva, Retail and Apparel Analyst at Mintel. “Interest among iGen and Millennial shoppers highlights an opportunity for brands to stay engaged with younger consumers as their behaviors evolve. Retailers looking to win on both Cyber Monday and Black Friday, and retain some of the notoriety of these shopping events, should consider running offers or spotlighting hot products in-store and online on both occasions.”
 
Total US retail sales in November and December are projected to reach $723 billion and beat 2016 sales by 1.8%.