What are the stats & trends for black Friday?

NRF reported that the Thanksgiving weekend attracted 190 million shoppers, an increase of 14% over last year. The biggest spenders were 25-34 year olds, who have high expectations of digital convenience connected to the instore experience.

Online shopping only just topped out in store, 142 million and 124 million respectively, with just over 70 million doing both, so that connected journey is incredibly important.

In terms of what convinced people to spend, the ability to facilitate click and collect was up by 15% compared to last year and mobile devices were used by 75% of buyers doing research, up from 66% last year.

Department stores were the biggest destination for shoppers, representing 50%, with clothing just behind at 36%.

Aside from the actual numbers, what’s useful to take away from this is that online and offline are merging more than ever, and flexibility of device – and seeing that through to purchase – is a big influencer in purchase decisions.