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.
