Survey: Economy Drove Black Friday 2009 Shoppers To Mass Merchants, Electronics
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 01:36PM December 1, 2009: Black Friday 2009 has come and gone, but its effects not only reflect what has and has not motivated consumers in 2009, but also offers a looking glass into 2010.
With the economy looming large, 35% of shoppers specifically searched out an item that was advertised on sale, 36% said they were motivated by a "doorbuster special," 73% of consumers went to mass merchants such as Target and Wal-Mart with 68% saying that actually made a purchase, and 27% of consumers said the main reason they did not go out on Nov. 27 was because they had "no money."
“This shows the power of the doorbuster,” Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for marketing and research firm The NPD Group, Port Washington, NY, which just released these stats in its first The Anatomy of Black Friday 2009 survey. “Those consumers that went out to get deals found them and purchased them. I think we will see retailers continuing to offer them throughout the holiday season.”
As to which categories were hottest, 49% of consumers said they purchased an electronics item; apparel was was second (43%) and movies were third (27%). Electronics includes TVs, home theater systems/DVD players/recorders, home audio products, satellite radio, GPS systems, cell phones, desktop/laptop computers, computer peripherals, digital/video cameras and MP3 players.
“Electronics continue to be the early bright spot with consumers, for gifting as well as self purchasing," said Cohen. "Add in the thrill of hunting for bargains, and we have a winning combination.”
Regarding destinations, national chains (59%) were second behind mass merchants, followed by electronics special stores (41%), online e-tailers (29%) and department stores (31%). As to why consumers made specific purchases, the top reason was "worried they wouldn’t find an item again" (44%), "great sale" (41%), "not likely to be a lower price’ (32%), "was exactly what someone else wanted’ (30%) and "just wanted to be done" (16%).
As far as Black Friday demographics, women were in the majority at 38% of shoppers, men were 32%. Among the 25-to-34-year-old age group, 54% said they were out shopping for early specials, but only 28% of 45-to-54-year-olds were Black Friday 2009 consumers, per NPD Group.
“The big question for those saying they had ‘no money’ is will they find some and spend it [this] holiday?” said Cohen, “The rest of the answers are an additional indication of the fact that consumers are planning to shop later this year then in prior years. No longer is Black Friday a single day phenomenon, with retailers promoting Black Friday-type sales both before and after the actual day. And consumers have spread out their shopping over the course of the season, both in stores and online."
NPD Group said its The Anatomy of Black Friday 2009 was an online survey of a nationally representative sample of almost 1,700 U.S. consumers ages 18+ assessing what they did on Black Friday and why.
