Baby Boomers Drive Cyber Monday Growth

By Pete Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_)

Black Friday, the Super Bowl of holiday shopping, is under siege, losing dominance as top retailers bow to pressure to open stores earlier on Thanksgiving Day and move to accommodate Cyber Monday deals that serve an increasingly digital customer base.

Nielsen’s latest report highlights what it says is a shift in consumer preference from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, one that’s being propelled by the increase number of consumers who are taking advantage of online deals on Black Friday.

Nielsen suggests 46 percent of consumers will shop online on Cyber Monday, up 16 percent from last year’s figures. Perhaps most notable, however, is that a growing number of Americans – 85 percent – don’t plan on shopping on Black Friday. This marked the fourth straight year a greater percentage of consumers said that they do not intend to partake in Black Friday shopping.

Just 13 percent of that study’s respondents said they will visit physical stores this Black Friday, down from 17 percent in 2012. Of those surveyed, 71 percent of Black Friday shoppers say they will visit a department store. Only 51 percent expect to shop online.

The Nielsen report did more than simply document how digital buying is impacting holiday shopping, it also provided an up-close look at how Cyber Monday shoppers behave, analyzing digital shoppers by gender, race and age to reveal trends in how these demographics buy.

For more insight and analysis on Cyber Monday shopping, we break down Nielsen’s report in this PYMNTS.com Data Point.

Cyber Monday Shopping By Gender

Nielsen found that female shoppers were 4.4 percent more likely to visit retail sites in 2012 than in 2011. Men, by comparison, were 3.4 percent less likely to do so.

A closer look at the data reveals men and women also differed sharply as to whether they were likely to visit coupons and rewards sites.

Cyber Monday Shopping By Age

Cyber Monday shopping was revealed to be increasing in popularity most among older consumers. The percent of customers who visited retail sites in the 50- to 64-year-old demographic and 65+ demographic increased 40 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively, from 2011 to 2012.

As this graph illustrates, certain age groups also turned away from Cyber Monday shopping in 2012.

Cyber Monday Shopping By Race

Asian-Americans are the fastest growing racial demographic of Cyber Monday shoppers, the report suggests. Asian-Americans spent 45.3 percent more time on retail sites in 2012 than in 2011.

Hispanic shoppers also saw a large boost, while African American shopping time decreased.

For more insights into Cyber Monday shopping, view “Move Over Black Friday: Consumers Prefer Shopping On Cyber Monday” here.