Thirty six percent of surveyed U.S. consumers planned to do most of their holiday shopping on Black Friday in 2020. This is a significant decrease compared to 2015, when some 60 percent of respondents were planning to do the majority of their shopping during that time.

Reasons for not going

Not all consumers in the United States are excited about Black Friday: in 2019, the most common reason for not going to physical stores during the Black Friday period, was the fact that stores are simply too busy. Many consumers that were not willing to go also stated that online shopping was easier.

Impulse purchases and budget

During Black Friday, many products are at a reduced price and, as a result, bought on impulse. In 2018, impulse purchases in the United States were made most frequently for clothing, footwear, and consumer electronics. When asked how much consumers were likely to spend during that year’s Black Friday, compared to the previous year, almost half of U.S. consumers stated they were likely to spend the same amount.

In 2023, four in 10 consumers in Canada were planning to take advantage of deals on Black Friday. Around one-third of the Canadian respondents stated they were planning to shop for deals on Boxing Day.

During Black Friday in Poland in 2020, one in ***** respondents stated that they would not shop. However, nearly ** percent of Poles will be shopping online.

During an August 2020 survey fielded in Brazil, ** percent of responding internet users said they planned to shop on Black Friday exclusively at physical stores. This is a drop of ** percentage points compared to the share recorded a year earlier. Meanwhile, the share of respondents who stated that they planned to shop online on Black Friday went from ** percent in 2019 to ** percent in 2020.

More than ** percent of Poles during the Black Friday in 2020 were most encouraged to shop by the reduction of product prices.

According to a worldwide survey on the Black Friday forecasts in 2020, ** percent of respondents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) preferred offline shopping channels on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, compared to ** percent who preferred online shopping in 2020. There were higher preferences for online shopping in European countries, China, and the United States in that year.

According to a survey carried out in September 2020, the prospect of too many crowds was the leading reason why shoppers in the United States do not plan to go to physical stores on Black Friday in 2020. Health and safety concerns ranked in second place amongst top consumer worries.

The opinion of French consumers on the value and usefulness of celebrating Black Friday during the times of reconfinement in case non-essential shops stay closed, was presented in this study according to their age. According to the survey, more than 55 percent of French consumers aged 18-24 mentioned that Black Friday should be maintained to allow households in difficulty to make purchases at a lower cost. According to 51 percent of French people aged 65 and over, Black Friday promotions or any similar promotions should be canceled in solidarity to closed businesses. In a different scenario where shops do re-open, 36 percent of French people aged 25-34 mentioned that Black Friday should be canceled to curb the price war that penalizes physical stores.

During a survey fielded in Brazil in August 2020, approximately ** percent of responding internet users, who stated that they would not shop on Black Friday that year, justified that decision by saying that they had other priorities for their spending. Around ** percent of respondents said they were unemployed and/or had no income, whereas ** percent stated not wanting to spend their money on shopping.

During 2020's Black Friday and Cyber Monday, nearly one in four shoppers in the United States intend to look for sales more than previous years, making this prerequisite the number *** priority. A fair amount of survey respondents also stated they will be searching for products that support charities and are environmentally friendly. Sustainability was a purchase driver for ***** percent of consumers answering the survey.

The announcement of containment in 2020 has already launched the battle of Back Friday purchases earlier than previous editions in France. During the Black Friday in December 2020, ** percent of shoppers had already bought an item during the Black Friday event in 2019. Furthermore, about ** percent of people that had made a purchase in 2018, re-purchased for the same event in 2019. Thus, the share of habitual shoppers has increased over the years.

During an August 2020 survey fielded in Brazil, about two out of five (** percent of) responding internet users said advertising on TV influenced their buying decision process on Black Friday. Around ** percent of respondents mentioned ads on websites and online social networks, while ** percent of them cited digital influencers and celebrities. Over ** percent of internet users surveyed stated they would shop online on Black Friday in Brazil.

As of November 5th, 2020, just under 20 percent of American shoppers expect to spend roughly the same amount as last year during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday craze. Approximately a third of consumers have no idea whether they will be spending more or less, while another third believe they will likely not purchase any goods during this busy shopping period.

During the 2020 edition of Black Friday in France, the average online shopping value amounted to ** euros. That is around ** percent smaller than the *** euros average ticket registered one year earlier. That year, the shopping event took place on November 26.

This statistic displays the share of Europe-based businesses that cancelled or went ahead with their original Black Friday campaign investments, by country. In the UK and Ireland, about ** percent of businesses cancelled their plans, but the remaining ** percent went ahead. About *** percent of those decreased their original investment, while an equal share of **** percent of businesses either continued with their usual investment plan or even increased their intended investment plans for Black Friday. The coronavirus pandemic disrupted the retail industry at unprecedented levels and the restriction measures put in place in several countries in Western Europe are expected to overshadow the holiday season. Black Friday is one of the leading highlights of the holiday shopping season, and already forecasts indicate that the value of retail sales during Black Friday will plummet in Europe by ** percent on average.

In 2021, approximately ** percent of consumers in Germany would usually plan their Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday shopping list one to two weeks before the shopping sales events occurred. This was also the most common answer among consumers back in 2020 and 2019. Only just over one in ten German shoppers typically planned their Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping over a month in advance.

Physical or online shopping activities have seen a shift in activity, partly due to the restrictions provoked by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in France in 2020. When asked what platforms they would most probably visit during Black Friday that year, French consumers aged 18 to 34 - representative of the millennial generation - more than two-thirds mentioned Amazon. Local retail platforms Sephora and Fnac followed, attracting ** percent and ** percent of young respondents, respectively.

During the Black Friday week in Romania in 2020, the number of sales recorded on *********** showed an increase of approximately ** percent compared the previous year. Only the first *** days of the week, namely Monday and Tuesday, registered negative values in the number of Black Friday sales compared to 2019.

About ** percent of all complaints registered on the Reclame Aqui website against online retailers during 2020's Black Friday in Brazil involved undelivered items. False advertising accounted for **** percent of the problems reported during that shopping season, while issues with returning or replacing products accounted for around ***** percent of the complaints. Reclame Aqui is a Brazilian website that publicizes consumers' complaints on problems not initially solved by product and service providers.

In recent years, online spending via desktop devices during Cyber Monday has skyrocketed in the United States, reaching approximately *********** U.S. dollars in 2020. This figure represents an increase of nearly ** percent over the previous year. In its 2020 version, Black Friday recorded a desktop spend of about *** billion dollars, whereas Thanksgiving expenditure amounted to some *** billion dollars.