Millennials More Likely to Brave the Lines on Black Friday

An appliance, electronics and furniture retailer called hhgregg is now monitoring consumer shopping habits and behaviors.

hhregg conducted a survey on November 14th and polled 3,500 shoppers across the US who were at least 18 years of age.

In the survey they discovered that Millennials are 63% more likely to visit physical stores on Black Friday than Baby Boomers who are 40% as likely. More so, more people are planning to shop on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday (48% vs. 47%). And 26% of people plan to visit 10+ stores in order to complete their holiday shopping.

Dennis May, the CEO of hhgregg states, “We want to know better than anybody else what shoppers want this holiday season and what the trends will be, so we are ready for them online and in our stores.” He also went on to say, “This survey has given us advance insights into what people are looking for, allowing us to offer the best deals and selection to make absolutely sure that people love the gifts they purchase from hhgregg.”

Here are some of the findings from the commissioned-survey:

  • 73% of shoppers find Black Friday particularly frustrating and overwhelming mainly due to lines and crowds.
  • 4 out of 10 Millennials say that Black Friday is exciting and fun.
  • Generation X takes the lead at 58% when it comes to shopping on Cyber Monday compared to 56% of Millennials and 37% of Boomers.
  • 60% of shoppers indicate that they will utilize their smartphones to compare prices at multiple stores in order to find the best prices.
  • 26% of shoppers are more likely to visit 10+ stores to finalize and complete their holiday shopping.
  • 56% of people say a technology gadget is #1 on their wish list this year.
  • 65% of shoppers will finalize all their shopping needs within the last 2 weeks before Christmas.
  • 65% of Millennials intend on completing their holiday shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
  • Nearly 24% of people list their spouse or significant other as the worst holiday shopper in the family, followed by “dad” at 18% and “sibling” at 18% as well.
  • 81% of shoppers plan to spend $100 or more on gifts for their spouse/significant other, but 50% anticipate their spouse spending $100 or less on them.

Additional Findings:

  • 53% of people reported to re-gift a holiday present from year’s prior.
  • 73% of shoppers look for a gift the whole family can appreciate.
  • 84% of people prefer giving gifts than receiving them (93% of Boomers, 72% of Millennials)
  • The top items on holiday wish lists include: apparel at 14%, laptops at 12%, high-definition televisions at 11% and tablets at 10%.
  • 8% of shoppers said they would be willing scoff down a spider if they could skip to the front a Black Friday store line in return.
  • 59% of respondents have indicated that after-Christmas sales are much more appealing and plan to continue shopping during after-Christmas sales.

May states, “Having learned about the products at the top of shoppers’ wish lists, we’ve got everyone covered.” He then specified, “We’re offering deals like the iPad Air for $299, Samsung 55-inch smart TVs for $598, 4K TVs at up to 40 percent off and many more gifts that won’t hurt our customers’ wallets.”

hhgregg announced that they will open their stores starting at 4:00 p.m. this Thanksgiving holiday until midnight but will then open again at 7:00am the following day, Black Friday. Alongside the Black Friday doorbusters, hhgregg will offer up to 40% off storewide for 10 days starting November 20th through November 29th. Online shoppers can also chime in on the deals and utilize hourly deals on Thanksgiving, Black Friday as well as Saturday. Additionally, mobile users can also utilize deals via hhgregg’s mobile application on iOS or Android.