The CEA has released projections for online shopping over what is becoming an annual five-day Thanksgiving spree. And even though Cyber Monday got its name from online, it’s not the #1 online day.
Believe it or not, Black Friday takes that distinction now.
CEA says that 103.3 million people in the US will shop online during the period, and that will be a record-breaker. A total of 143 million will be among the ranks of total shoppers.
CEA is particularly interested in the gifting of tech devices, and notes that 89 million will be in the market for such an item.
As for online shopping, 24% said they would be going online to shop on Black Friday, eclipsing the 19% who will do the same on Cyber Monday.
28% are going to brave the brick and mortar world on Black Friday, the same as last year but 5% less than in 2012.
“Mobile use is strongly influencing the consumer’s shifting shopping patterns around Thanksgiving weekend,” said Shawn DuBravac, Ph.D., chief economist, CEA. “With the help of mobile devices, this year will be online shopping’s biggest Black Friday weekend yet and we’ll see that materialize in a number of ways.”
“We expect to see more consumers than ever turn to their mobile devices to learn about sales and discounts during the holiday weekend,” added DuBravac. “Retailers are clearly focusing on delivering a rich consumer shopping experience, and are increasingly focused on delivering that experience online, in-stores and on mobile devices.”
