More Consumers Plan to Shop Online for Black Friday Deals

Many consumers aren't expecting to get up from their Thanksgiving dinner and head straight to a store to shop for Black Friday deals.

At least not those polled by Periscope By McKinsey. Of the US internet users surveyed, nearly half (48%) said they plan to shop more online, while fewer (28%) said they plan to do so in-store.

What's causing this shift?

A plurality of respondents feel they're getting a better deal online than in-store, and many feel that stores are too chaotic. Other internet users in the US just find shopping online is much easier, with older respondents more likely to feel this way than their younger cohorts.

A recent study conducted by Bazaarvoice mirrors these sentiments. It found that when buying holiday gifts, shoppers do so digitally rather than in-store to avoid crowds (65%), save time (62%) and find better sales (57%).

Shoppers' growing preference for digital channels could also be attributable to retailers extending their Black Friday sales online. What once was a one-day event can now last all Thanksgiving week, giving consumers a softened sense of urgency to fight crowds for deals.

For the 2018 holiday season, eMarketer expects total US retail sales to grow 4.1% to $986.8 billion, with ecommerce jumping 16.2% to $123.4 billion.

eMarketer recently released new forecasts for the 2018 holiday season, including total retail, retail ecommerce and mcommerce sales. eMarketer PRO subscribers can access the forecast and the full report now.

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