Online shopping is the top choice for consumers who plan to shop during this holiday weekend, including on the day that once overflowed stores and shopping malls. 66% of survey respondents intend to shop online on Black Friday, compared with 44% who say they will shop in retailers’ stores the day after Thanksgiving, according to a survey by Deloitte LLP.
More consumers plan to shop online on Black Friday than Cyber Monday—52% of consumers say they plan to shop the Monday after Thanksgiving, the survey says.
When it comes to buying, consumers say 59% of their spending will be online over the holiday weekend, up from 52% in 2014. Consumers expect 36% of their spending will be in stores, down from 45% last year, the survey finds. They also say they’ll spend more during the Thanksgiving weekend: $369 on average, up 25% from last year’s survey.
The survey, commissioned by Deloitte, was conducted online Nov. 16-17 by an independent research company that polled a national sample of 1,000 consumers and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
“The digital influence is likely to touch nearly every moment in the shopper’s journey this holiday season,” said Rod Sides, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and retail and distribution practice leader. “With nearly 90% of respondents planning to go online at some point during the upcoming holiday weekend, digital retailing is about more than an online transaction.”
Americans and Brits are on the same track when it comes to buy online, pickup in store habits this holiday season, with 31% of Americans and 29% of U.K. residents saying they plan to use the option, according to Shopatron, an e-commerce technology and services provider that surveyed more than 3,000 consumers in North America and the United Kingdom.
“With Christmas Day also falling on a Friday this year, many people will be working right up until the start of the festive period. The convenience of collecting presents in-store could drive further peaks in omnichannel sales all the way through to the final days before December 25,” Shopatron founder and CEO Ed Stevens said.
More than half of American (56%) and British (57%) consumers expect to have online purchases delivered to their homes, Shopatron’s survey found. Retailers must be prepared to handle high Black Friday sales volume and the delivery challenges that come with that so as not to damage their reputations, Stevens said.
Merry mobile: Nearly a third (32%) of Americans and more than a quarter of Brits (26%) will use their smartphones to make purchases this holiday season, Shopatron finds.
“Retailers who’ve anticipated this shift in consumer behavior and optimized their mobile shopping services accordingly will be in the best position to capture this market over Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” Stevens said.
The Monday after Thanksgiving comes out ahead at ShopRunner, a members-only online shopping service. Its 2015 Holiday Consumer Study finds that 85% of its members plan to shop on Cyber Monday, and 24% say they will do so on a mobile device. ShopRunner’s survey of more than 2,500 members was conducted weekly Nov. 1-24. The service has more than 2.5 million members who can get free two-days shipping at more than 125 retailer sites for a $79 annual fee.
Shopping online on Black Friday also is gaining popularity, with 66% of those surveyed planning to shop from their desktop or laptop and 25% intending to go to stores, the survey found. Almost half (49%) will shop online on Thanksgiving, and more prefer to shop via mobile devices (17%) on the holiday compared with going to stores (13%).
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