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Black Friday shoppers plan to treat themselves

Consumer Reports survey finds two-thirds of holiday shoppers plan to make self-purchases

By Sarah Knapp
November 23, 2009

Consumers won't just be scouting out gifts for friends and family come Black Friday.

According to the Consumer Reports Holiday Poll results, as published on PR Newswire, 66 percent of shoppers will be buying something for themselves. Drawing on the responses of more than 1,000 adults received at the beginning of November, the poll found that 28 percent of adults plan to go shopping on Black Friday, while another 29 percent say they will shop on the Saturday or Sunday afterwards.

"This is the first time we've asked about the shopping for yourself issue, because Black Friday has become an extended period; it started a month ago already, it can't just be gift shopping, it's too long," said Ed Farell director of market research for Consumer Reports. "This probably occurred every year in the past, but this year it's likely to be more, considering that retail has been hurting. Especially for the past three months, there's a lot of pent-up demand."

The most popular categories for self-shopping are food and wine, electronics, and clothing, the survey found. For instance, 70 percent of shoppers surveyed plan to buy electronics, with 78 percent of those buying the items as gifts and 55 percent as self-purchases. Overall, the most popular shopping item will be clothing, with 71 percent of shoppers planning on buying apparel. Among those shoppers buying clothes for others, 46 percent will be buying some clothing for themselves.

Toys are one thing that consumers are least likely to buy for themselves as 98 percent of shoppers plan to buy toys as gifts and only 3 percent will buy toys for themselves, the survey finds.

Gender also plays a role in self purchases. Men are more likely to buy video games or accessories, electronics, and recreation/fitness equipment for themselves. Women will splurge on buying food, wine or clothing for themselves. Age also contributes to what consumers will buy for themselves, with 51 percent of shoppers ages 18 to 34, for instance, buying themselves electronics. Forty-five percent of those 55 and older will buy food and wine for themselves.
 
Consumers are also much more likely to be shopping for themselves in-stores (28 percent) rather than online (14 percent).  

"Shopping in stores is part of a culture, it's just the way we're wired; online is handy if you know exactly what you want to get," said Farell. "What you don't have is the browsing experience. It's better to have people in the store than online in terms of exposing people to things that they didn't even know they wanted...It very well could be that people will buy more for themselves when they go into stores: People set up budgets for gifts but not always expressly for themselves."

--Nielsen Business Media
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