Millennial Habits on Black Friday 2015 vs. 2017

No shopping holiday is more old-school than the retail war zone that is Black Friday. I can remember people camping out the night before for Black Friday deals all the way back to when I was a kid — South Park even did an episode on it! Surely, if there's one shopping experience tech-savvy, retail-resistant Millennials are going to opt-out of over time, it's Black Friday, right? New research from Influenster shows how Millennial Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping habits have changed. And while it's certainly not great news for in-store retail, it's not as big a shift as you might expect. Black Friday for Millennials: 2015 vs. 2017 The research, "Influenster Black Friday and Cyber Monday Millennial Shopping Survey 2015 vs. 2017," shows a few interesting trends comparing this year's results to results from two years ago. For starters, slightly fewer millennials intend to participate in he combined shopping holiday of Black Friday and Cyber Monday: 89 percent vs. 93 percent in 2015. Out of them, more still intend to shop on Black Friday than Cyber Monday, but the gap is narrowing: Do you shop more on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? 2015 2017 More on Black Friday 35% 32% More on Cyber Monday 26% 30% Equal on both days 39% 38% However, far fewer millennials plan to shop in-store on Black Friday: 35 percent in 2017 vs. 61 percent in 2015. And 92 percent of all respondents plan to look for deals online before heading to the stores. The survey respondents said their overall shopping plans look like this: How do you plan on shopping this Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday? 2015 2017 Online for Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday 67% 61% Browsing in stores, before buying online for Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday 44% 29% In stores for Black Friday 61% 35% Research online, before buying in stores on Black Friday 48% 40% On the bright side for retailers, fewer millennials plan on "showrooming," i.e. shopping on the phone for better deals while looking at the product in-store: 29 percent in 2017 vs. 44 percent in 2015. After all, why go to a store on Black Friday only to find the store you should've gone to online? By then, it's probably already too late to get that doorbuster deal. When it comes to what wins the sale, online reviews still appear to be the most powerful influencer (although, here it's worth noting that Influenster is a company that powers online reviews). However, word of mouth has slipped slightly compared to social media: What factors would most influence your purchase decision this Black Friday/Cyber Monday? 2015 2017 Word of mouth 53% 47% Online reviews 72% 70% Social media 58% 61% Brand websites 47% 39% News websites 12% 6% Television 28% 15% Newspaper 23% 9% Magazines 24% 10% Mail catalogues 24% 14% Computer vs. Mobile, Website vs. App Out of those who will shop online, there are some interesting changes in where and how. More plan to shop via mobile: If you plan on online shopping on Black Friday and/or Cyber Mondays how would you do so? 2015 2017 On my desktop/laptop 83% 70% On my mobile device/tablet 58% 62% But when it comes to how they'll prefer to order on mobile, all of the options came in lower than 2015. If you plan on shopping on your mobile device/tablet, how would you make your purchases? 2015 2017 Through websites 95% 90% Through apps 55% 50% Through "buy" buttons on social media 10% 7% It's really time we improved that mobile ordering experience! Holiday Favorites And to wrap this up, when it comes to where millennials go and the brands they buy, some of the favorites appear to be shifting. Congrats to Target for holding off Amazon and Walmart to be the favorite Black Friday retailer. Which are your favorite retailers to shop at on Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday? 2015 2017 Target 85% 71% Amazon 70% 66% Walmart 66% 54% Best Buy 49% 29% Kohl's 47% 27% Macy's 41% 26% TJ Maxx 33% 26% JCPenney 35% 21% Toys 'R' Us 36% 20% Bed Bath and Beyond 39% 20% Nordstrom 25% 19% Marshalls 27% 18% eBay 21% 10% Dick's Sporting Goods 17% 9% Kmart 20% 8% Sears 18% 7% Home Depot 13% 7% Neiman Marcus 8% 5% Lord & Taylor 6% 3% In the end, how Millennials shop may be changing, but the raw volume of commerce they'll participate in this holiday is still staggering.

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Millennial Habits on Black Friday 2015 vs. 2017

Thorin McGee

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Thorin McGee