CHICAGO — Shoppers got off to a quick start with their holiday purchases, giving Black Friday the edge during the long weekend, according to research from data and tech company Numerator, while home goods outpaced furniture among shoppers.
About three-fourths (76%) among the 9,199 verified shoppers surveyed said they shopped or planned to shop on Black Friday, making it the most active day during the five-day period that spanned Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday was the next most shopped day, attracting 59% of buyers.
Consumers also preferred to shop from home, with 56% buying primarily or exclusively online. Just 6% said they bought only at stores, with another 10% shopping mostly in person. The remaining 29% were equally split between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce.
On a category basis, 26% of shoppers said they purchased items in the home goods category, which covered bedding, décor and related products, ranking it in the Top 5. Furniture, however, enticed just 7% of Cyber Weekend shoppers, making it one of the least popular categories among those tracked by Numerator. Apparel was the big winner, purchased by 62%.
Another big winner was Amazon, which was shopped by 87% of Numerator’s panel. Other retailers in the Top 5 were Walmart and Target along with department stores such as Kohl’s and JCPenney and club stores, including Sam’s and Costco. Relative retail newcomers such as Temu, Shein and the Tik Tok Shop attracted 10% or fewer consumers. Nearly all consumers (93%) bought from two or more retailers or websites over the weekend, and 27% bought from five or more.
Rising prices were on people’s minds, which prompted 53% to say they were seeking promotions, sales and coupons. Just over 40% acknowledged buying fewer gifts this year, while 34% were switching retailers in search of a better price.
More than half (59%) had already participated in early deal days, shopping events put on by Amazon, Target and Walmart. That early experience gave 32% a clearer idea of what they wanted to buy, while 27% felt less urgency to shop Cyber Weekend because they’d already found some good deals.
