Holiday sales periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become a global phenomenon and one of the largest shopping days, both online and in person. In fact, new research from Finder.com reveals 28% of American adults, or an estimated 72.4 million people, plan to shop end-of-year sales like Black Friday this year. Finder conducted two separate surveys to find out why Americans are shopping and how much of a discount it’ll take. Let’s unpack the stats.
Who is most likely to shop the Black Friday sales?
Women are slightly more likely than men to partake in the shopping event, with 29% of women saying they plan to make a purchase compared to 27% of men.
People between ages 35 and 44 are the most likely to partake in the event, with 34% in this age group saying they will shop the sales. Meanwhile, just 24% of those ages 25 to 34 and 65 and older say the same.
Why are Americans shopping Black Friday?
We all have our reasons for shopping the sales – some are jonesing for a good deal while others simply have nothing else to do. In America, it turns out 11% of adults plan to shop because they think they’ll find a good deal, while 6% are shopping to stave off boredom. The remaining 11% say they’re shopping but couldn’t give a specific reason why.
Men are more likely than women to be a procrasti-shopper, with 7% of men planning to shop because they’re bored compared to just 4% of women. However, they’re just as likely as one another to shop for a good deal, with 11% of both sexes shopping for this reason.
Why aren’t Americans shopping Black Friday?
It doesn’t take too much imagination to wonder why someone would want to buy an item for less. So why wouldn’t they?
It turns out that 8% of American adults think that retailers inflate prices before sales, making them want to opt out altogether.
An additional 5% say the products they want aren’t discounted, while 4% say they have never heard of Black Friday.
How much of a discount will it take for Americans to shop Black Friday?
In a separate survey, Finder asked Americans how much of a discount it would take to shop the sales. Across the board, 58% of adults say they could be enticed to make a purchase this Black Friday — but only if the price is right.
On average, it’ll take an average discount of 58% to coax Americans out to shop on Black Friday 2021.
One in five adults (19%) say it would take a discount of 50% to get them interested in going shopping.
The next most common response was 90%, with 15% saying they’d need a discount of at least that to pique their interest.
Taking nearly three-quarters of the price was the third most common response, with 11% saying they’d need a 70% discount to consider shopping.
Are men or women most likely to be enticed by the Black Friday sales?
More American men are planning to hit the sales than women, with 59% of men saying they could be convinced to shop the sales, compared to 57% of women.
The top response for both men and women was a discount of 50%, with 19% of both men and women looking for a discount of at least half-off.
Getting items for 90% off was the second most common answer for the sexes. However, slightly more women (16%) than men (14%) said they’d need prices cut by this much.
The next most common discount that would entice women into shopping was 70% off, with 14% needing to save at least that much. Whereas for 10% of men, it would only take a discount of 25%.
Younger Americans most likely to be enticed
Those aged 18-24 are most likely to shop the sales, with 69% saying they’ll be enticed to shop if the price is right. Meanwhile, those aged 65+ are least likely to take part, with just 52% saying any discount could catch their eye.
Which country has the most Black Friday shoppers?
Black Friday can bring to mind hoards of American bargain-hunters breaking through the front doors of stores across the country. So, it’s unsurprising the US tops the list for the number of people searching Black Friday deals in 2021.
The US has the highest search interest in Black Friday, making up roughly 21% of search volume for the shopping holiday, according to our analysis of historical search data for four key terms related to the shopping holiday in 31 countries. (See our methodology for a breakdown of our analysis.) Search interest within the US in 2021 is also up compared to 2020, jumping roughly 7%.
Germany takes silver for search interest in Black Friday, making up about 13% of the search interest in those 31 countries. And interest is way up in Germany, jumping roughly 18% year-on-year.
Taking the final spot on the podium is Brazil, which makes up around 11% of the search volume. Search interest in Brazil saw modest gains in 2021 of roughly 4%.
Chile may have only ranked 22nd in terms of search volume but saw the largest year-on-year gain in search interest (41%), whereas interest in Italy went the other way, with a precipitous drop of roughly 74%.
Want to know how your country stacks up? View the 31 countries searching for Black Friday in our map below, or use the table in the tab to see where your country ended up over the last three years:
Who are the most popular retailers in the US?
Search volume data from Ahrefs suggests that one of the most popular places to go for Black Friday deals is Walmart. Other popular retailers searched for include Best Buy, Target and Kohls.
What are people looking to buy on Black Friday?
In terms of specific products and brands, data suggests that people are looking to bag deals on products like TVs and the Nintendo Switch. Other popular brands include Apple, Verizon and Hulu.
Methodology
Finder surveyed a convenience sample of 2,003 American adults via an online Google survey from September 28–30, 2021. Google applied weighting to the survey results to be representatively proportionate to the general internet population. The details of Google’s survey methodology can be found here.
For the search data, Finder has been collecting search data for most of the 31 countries since 2019 from multiple sources, including SEMRush, Ahrefs and Google. To get the overall ranking, Finder used a combination of the term “Black Friday,” in conjunction with ancillary searches that included either year (i.e. 2020 or 2021) and the local equivalent search for “Black Friday deals.”
For the list of retailers, Finder looked at the top 1,000 search results as per Ahrefs to get a list of retailers, products and brands which were dominant in the results. Because of the large volume, various iterations of spelling mistakes and the limited scope (i.e. top 1,000 search results), we chose to present the results in no particular order.
What can I do to be cool?
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for getting in touch! You are cool in your own unique way. Don’t feel like you have to try hard to please everyone.:) You do you! :)
Cheers,
Nikki