2018 Best Black Friday Online Shopping 2018
A look back at how Black Friday began, how it's become so popular and how much shoppers are spending.
For millions of people Black Friday is the time to do some serious Christmas shopping --even before the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone! Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it's one of the major shopping days of the year in the United States, falling anywhere between November 23 and 29. While it's not recognized as an official U.S. holiday, many employees have the day off, except those working in retail.
In which U.S. city did the term Black Friday originate
The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia. In the 1960's, police in Philadelphia griped about the congested streets, clogged with motorists and pedestrians, calling it “Black Friday.” In a non-retail sense, it also describes a financial crisis of 1869: a stock market catastrophe set off by gold spectators who tried and failed to corner the gold market, causing the market to collapse and stocks to plummet.
Why is it called Black Friday?
The term “Black Friday” (in the retail sense) was coined in the 1960s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to stores moving from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand, and red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.
Why did Black Friday become so popular?
As retailers began to realize they could draw big crowds by discounting prices, Black Friday became the day to shop, even better than those last-minute Christmas sales. Some retailers put their items up for sale on the morning of Thanksgiving, or email online specials to consumers days or weeks before the actual event. The most shopped for items are electronics and popular toys, as these may be the most drastically discounted. However, prices are slashed on everything from home furnishings to apparel.
Black Friday is a long day, with many retailers opening up at 5 a.m. or even the afternoon of Thanksgiving to hordes of people waiting anxiously outside the windows. There are numerous doorbuster deals and loss leaders – prices so low the store may not make a profit – to entice shoppers. Most large retailers post their Black Friday ad scans, coupons and offers online beforehand to give consumers time to find out about sales and plan their purchases. Other companies take a different approach, waiting until the last possible moment to release their Black Friday ads, hoping to create a buzz and keep customers eagerly checking back for an announcement.
More and more, consumers are choosing to shop online, not wanting to wait outside in the early morning chill with a crush of other shoppers or battle over the last most-wanted item. Often, many people show up for a small number of limited-time "door-buster" deals, such as large flat-screen televisions or laptops for a few hundred dollars. Since these coveted items sell out quickly, quite a few shoppers leave the store empty handed. The benefit of online shopping is that you will know right away if the MP3 player you want is out of stock, and can easily find another one without having to travel from store to store. Also, many online retailers have pre-Black Friday or special Thanksgiving sales, so you may not even have to wait until the big day to save.
Black Friday statistics
Check out these numbers to see just how big of a sales day Black Friday is.
Black Friday shopping and spending
2017 Holiday sales (Nov. and Dec.) totalled $691.9 billion (up 5.5% from 2016). (Source: NRF)
Black Friday 2017 (Thanksgiving Day plus Black Friday) raked in $7.9 billion in online sales. That’s $5.03 billion spent on Thanksgiving Day and $2.87 billion spent on Black Friday. This spending level is up 17.9% from 2016. (Source: Adobe Analytics)
13 million online transactions were processed on Black Friday 2017 and 12.5 million were processed on Thanksgiving. (Source: Hitwise)
174 million Americans shopped on Black Friday weekend 2017 (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) (Source: NRF)
Average per-person spending for Thanksgiving weekend 2017 was $335.47 -- and $251 of that was for gifts. Older millennials (age 25 to 34) spent the most per person ($419.52) (Source: NRF)
Average per-person spending for Thanksgiving weekend 2016 was $289.19 -- and $214 of that was for gifts. (Source: NRF)
Black Friday consumer behavior
In 2017, 11% of Black Friday shoppers started shopping before 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Another 11% began at 6 p.m. And another 25% started at 10 a.m. or later on Black Friday itself. (Source: NRF)
Heading into the 2017 holiday season, 69% of shoppers said they planned to shop on Black Friday, and 49% said they planned to shop on Thanksgiving. (Source: Offers.com)
Black Friday online vs. in stores
During Black Friday weekend 2017, 64 million shopped both online and in stores; 58 million shopped only online and 51 million shopped only in stores. (Source: NRF)
In 2017, Black Friday was the most popular day for in-store shopping (77 million shopped in store on Black Friday 2017) (Source: NRF).
Heading into the 2017 holiday shopping season, slightly more (44%) consumers said they planned to shop online on Black Friday 2017 than in store (42%). (Source: Offers.com)
Top Black Friday products
Heading into Black Friday 2017, consumers said they were looking for deals on the following: Tablets/laptops/PCs/TVs (27%); clothing (24%); smart-home gadgets (15%); toys (15%); gift cards (11%); and travel (8%). (Source: BlackFriday.com)
Top Black Friday retailers
Amazon took 45.1% of all online transactions on Thanksgiving 2017 and 54.9% of all online transactions on Black Friday. (Source: Hitwise)
Walmart took 13.9% off all online transactions on Thanksgiving 2017 and 8.8% of all online transactions on Black Friday (Source: Hitwise)
For millions of people Black Friday is the time to do some serious Christmas shopping --even before the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone! Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it's one of the major shopping days of the year in the United States, falling anywhere between November 23 and 29. While it's not recognized as an official U.S. holiday, many employees have the day off, except those working in retail.
In which U.S. city did the term Black Friday originate
The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia. In the 1960's, police in Philadelphia griped about the congested streets, clogged with motorists and pedestrians, calling it “Black Friday.” In a non-retail sense, it also describes a financial crisis of 1869: a stock market catastrophe set off by gold spectators who tried and failed to corner the gold market, causing the market to collapse and stocks to plummet.
Why is it called Black Friday?
The term “Black Friday” (in the retail sense) was coined in the 1960s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to stores moving from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand, and red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.
Why did Black Friday become so popular?
As retailers began to realize they could draw big crowds by discounting prices, Black Friday became the day to shop, even better than those last-minute Christmas sales. Some retailers put their items up for sale on the morning of Thanksgiving, or email online specials to consumers days or weeks before the actual event. The most shopped for items are electronics and popular toys, as these may be the most drastically discounted. However, prices are slashed on everything from home furnishings to apparel.
Black Friday is a long day, with many retailers opening up at 5 a.m. or even the afternoon of Thanksgiving to hordes of people waiting anxiously outside the windows. There are numerous doorbuster deals and loss leaders – prices so low the store may not make a profit – to entice shoppers. Most large retailers post their Black Friday ad scans, coupons and offers online beforehand to give consumers time to find out about sales and plan their purchases. Other companies take a different approach, waiting until the last possible moment to release their Black Friday ads, hoping to create a buzz and keep customers eagerly checking back for an announcement.
More and more, consumers are choosing to shop online, not wanting to wait outside in the early morning chill with a crush of other shoppers or battle over the last most-wanted item. Often, many people show up for a small number of limited-time "door-buster" deals, such as large flat-screen televisions or laptops for a few hundred dollars. Since these coveted items sell out quickly, quite a few shoppers leave the store empty handed. The benefit of online shopping is that you will know right away if the MP3 player you want is out of stock, and can easily find another one without having to travel from store to store. Also, many online retailers have pre-Black Friday or special Thanksgiving sales, so you may not even have to wait until the big day to save.
Black Friday statistics
Check out these numbers to see just how big of a sales day Black Friday is.
Black Friday shopping and spending
2017 Holiday sales (Nov. and Dec.) totalled $691.9 billion (up 5.5% from 2016). (Source: NRF)
Black Friday 2017 (Thanksgiving Day plus Black Friday) raked in $7.9 billion in online sales. That’s $5.03 billion spent on Thanksgiving Day and $2.87 billion spent on Black Friday. This spending level is up 17.9% from 2016. (Source: Adobe Analytics)
13 million online transactions were processed on Black Friday 2017 and 12.5 million were processed on Thanksgiving. (Source: Hitwise)
174 million Americans shopped on Black Friday weekend 2017 (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) (Source: NRF)
Average per-person spending for Thanksgiving weekend 2017 was $335.47 -- and $251 of that was for gifts. Older millennials (age 25 to 34) spent the most per person ($419.52) (Source: NRF)
Average per-person spending for Thanksgiving weekend 2016 was $289.19 -- and $214 of that was for gifts. (Source: NRF)
Black Friday consumer behavior
In 2017, 11% of Black Friday shoppers started shopping before 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Another 11% began at 6 p.m. And another 25% started at 10 a.m. or later on Black Friday itself. (Source: NRF)
Heading into the 2017 holiday season, 69% of shoppers said they planned to shop on Black Friday, and 49% said they planned to shop on Thanksgiving. (Source: Offers.com)
Black Friday online vs. in stores
During Black Friday weekend 2017, 64 million shopped both online and in stores; 58 million shopped only online and 51 million shopped only in stores. (Source: NRF)
In 2017, Black Friday was the most popular day for in-store shopping (77 million shopped in store on Black Friday 2017) (Source: NRF).
Heading into the 2017 holiday shopping season, slightly more (44%) consumers said they planned to shop online on Black Friday 2017 than in store (42%). (Source: Offers.com)
Top Black Friday products
Heading into Black Friday 2017, consumers said they were looking for deals on the following: Tablets/laptops/PCs/TVs (27%); clothing (24%); smart-home gadgets (15%); toys (15%); gift cards (11%); and travel (8%). (Source: BlackFriday.com)
Top Black Friday retailers
Amazon took 45.1% of all online transactions on Thanksgiving 2017 and 54.9% of all online transactions on Black Friday. (Source: Hitwise)
Walmart took 13.9% off all online transactions on Thanksgiving 2017 and 8.8% of all online transactions on Black Friday (Source: Hitwise)
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