Big deals and deep discounts enticed U.S. consumers to shop this past Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend, according to a recent Nielsen Home Entertainment survey. Respondents said they were most enticed by the best deals, but noted that selection and the ability to shop at preferred retailers were factors as well.
Out of 2,000 respondents surveyed the week after Black Friday, 37 percent responded that they purchased a movie on DVD or Blu-ray disc, while just 13 percent purchased a digital download of a movie.
Respondents purchased an average of four new DVDs or Blu-ray discs over the holiday weekend, and three out of their four purchases were new movie releases from 2012.
While Black Friday is often marketed as the best time to shop for others, the survey showed that a large proportion of respondents capitalized on the discounts and hot deals by purchasing items for themselves.
- 69 percent of respondents reported making purchases for themselves.
- Of the respondents who shopped for others, 20 percent said they were looking for gifts for recipients who were younger than 18 years old.
In addition to seeking the best deals, respondents said they were also seeking selection and goods from preferred retailers when asked to rank the other factors that drove their planned and actual shopping behavior. Respondents agree that the top factor for selecting a retailer was the caliber of the deals, but this factor had the biggest variance between the percentages of intended and actual shopping.
The survey also noted that:
- More than half of the survey respondents shopped over the Black Friday weekend,
- One-quarter of respondents shopped on Cyber Monday, and
- Only 6 percent of respondents were not aware of sales on Cyber Monday.
Just under one in five respondents participated in early bird Black Friday shopping between 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving through midnight to take advantage of early deals. These early bird shoppers comprised the highest proportion of all Black Friday weekend shoppers by a slim margin compared to those who shopped during time periods throughout the weekend.
Source: Nielsen Home Entertainment Tracking, November & December 2012 (U.S. age 13-54 sample).
Note: Data collected from two independent samples over a two-week period.
