Survey: 4% of consumers 'very likely' to shop on Thanksgiving

PITTSBURGH — More consumers are planning to shop on Black Friday than Thanksgiving, however when compared to last year, shopping intent has slightly decreased, according to a recently released survey from CivicScience. And it doesn’t seem that retailers’ plans to open their stores earlier on Thanksgiving Day are persuading more consumers to shop on that day compared to last year, the research group added. Those who do plan to shop on Black Friday are going to be spending the most on electronics/media and clothing/accessories. 

 

The poll found that 21% of U.S. adult consumers are considering shopping on Black Friday 2014. Of those, only about one-third (35%) are very confident they will do so, while the rest (65%) say they are only somewhat likely to go shopping and may require some persuasion or other factors to get them into the stores. 

 

Slightly fewer consumers plan to shop on Black Friday this year compared to last year. In 2013 (posing the same question from Nov. 1, 2014 to Nov. 15, 2013 to 4,049 respondents), 26% of consumers said they were likely to shop on Black Friday, which means that U.S. adult consumers are 19% less likely to shop on Black Friday 2014 than last year. 

 

As many as 4% of U.S. adult consumers are very likely to go gift shopping on Thanksgiving Day 2014, with another 8% in a ‘persuadable’ category of saying they are somewhat likely. As with Black Friday shoppers, only about one-third are strongly certain they will shop on this holiday. Among those planning to shop, “going for the deals” seems to be the biggest reason consumers will shop on the Thanksgiving holiday, representing 8% of respondents, while “going for the experience” is a draw to only 2%. 

 

In compiling the report, CivicScience polled more than 21,200 U.S. adults between late October and mid-November 2014 on multiple Black Friday and Thanksgiving holiday shopping questions.