Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are increasingly commonplace from the start of November. But with this extended sale window, are Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers more likely to go early, or hold out for the main event?
YouGov Surveys data shows that half of Americans shop in the sales on Black Friday or Cyber Monday – or in the sales held earlier in November. Of this group, just one in five waits until Black Friday and Cyber Monday themselves (19%). Some 7 in 10 do a mix of shopping in the early sales and waiting for the main events (70%), while 10% exclusively shop in the early sales.
Three in ten think the early November sales offer better deals (30%), with one in six saying they are worse (17%). Some 44% say the deals in the early sales and the sales on Black Friday/Cyber Monday themselves are about the same.
Why Americans wait until the main events of Black Friday/Cyber Monday
We asked Americans who shop in the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales post-Thanksgiving why they do so. Three in five said they expect the biggest discounts to be then (61%), while two in five said they like to get exactly what they want from a specific retailer (40%).
A quarter said they like to do all their shopping in one go (23%), while one in six said the Black Friday sales are closer to payday (17%). Another 14% claimed that the sales are too confusing to navigate, and one in nine (11%) said they doubted the deals in earlier sales were genuine discounts.
Why Americans buy in the sales before Black Friday/Cyber Monday
Among Americans who go earlier or do a mix of both, 46% said they do so to get their Christmas shopping done early, while two in five said they want to take advantage of good deals – regardless of whether or not better deals might show up in future (40%).
A similar proportion cited a concern that items will sell out before Black Friday or Cyber Monday (39%). A third said they liked to spread costs out throughout the month (35%), and the same proportion said they liked to avoid the Black Friday/Cyber Monday rush. One in six claimed they shop in the earlier sales because they have more money at the start of the month.
What would incentivise American shoppers to participate in sales ahead of Black Friday/Cyber Monday?
Finally, we asked shoppers what would motivate them to buy in the early-November sales going forward. Four in five (80%) said knowing in advance about specific discounts, while a similar proportion cited price history and the ability to check if a discount is genuine (80%).
Three-quarters would be incentivised by a refund in the event that a sale is not genuine (77%), while two-thirds would be motivated by being able to see how much of an item is left in stock levels (64%).
