Arlington, VA—A record number of American adults, an impressive 57%, shopped online or planned to shop online over Black Friday Week (Monday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday).
According to data released by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the number of mobile (smartphone and tablet) consumers approached the number of those who use a desktop or laptop computer.
CTA’s 2016 Post Black Friday Survey also found it was a record year for tech devices, with 61.7 million American adults (25%) having bought or plan to buy tech products over the course of the holiday shopping week. According to CTA, most will do their tech purchasing at brick-and-mortar stores.
“The 2016 holiday shopping season is the tipping point for mobile shopping,” said Shawn DuBravac, PhD, chief economist, CTA. “Consumers are shifting increasingly to mobile shopping, due to higher ownership rates of mobile devices and increasing ease, comfort and convenience.
“Online deals permeated the entire Black Friday Week, with retailers often matching in-store deals and doing so earlier online. Yet, shopping for tech in stores remains important. Shoppers are still mostly heading to physical stores to touch, feel and experience tech devices before buying.”
Mobile & Online Shopping on the Rise
According to CTA’s survey, “Overall, more people than ever—135.9 million American adults (an increase of more than 6% over last year)—shopped or plan to shop over the entire 2016 Black Friday Week. Of those, 135.9 million U.S. adults, 76% shopped in brick-and-mortar stores while 57% shopped online.
Additionally, 43% of the online shoppers did so via desktop or laptop. Also, 35% used a mobile device (smartphone or tablet). This represents an increase of seven percentage points.
Top Tech for Black Friday
Consistent with CTA’s Pre-Black Friday predictions (2016 Pre-Black Friday Survey), among the 61.7 million American adults who bought or plan to buy tech over the 2016 Black Friday Week, the top 10 tech purchases in order are: televisions; tablets; smartphones; videogame consoles; tech accessories; laptops; headphones; DVD/Blu-ray players; portable Bluetooth speakers; and digital toys.
“While perennial Black Friday tech strongholds such as televisions, videogame consoles and laptops dominated shoppers’ baskets, it was also a breakout year for emerging tech,” said DuBravac. “These nascent devices, including digital assistant devices, virtual reality and drones, landed on the front page of retailer’s Black Friday ads, and shopper’s baskets, for the first time this year.”
According to CTA’s overall holiday season outlook, total tech spending during the entire holiday shopping season will increase 3.1%. It will reach a record $36.05 billion in 2016. CTA estimates total online holiday sales will grow by 16.4% to $84.2 billion. Additionally, online sales through mobile devices will grow by 45.2% to $20.1 billion. cta.tech
