Many say ‘no thanks’ to stores, shop online over weekend
In-store deals fail to get consumers to travel to stores
Many shoppers said “no, thanks” to wild crowds over the holiday weekend as more people opted to shop online than in stores, initial data show.
As retailers seamlessly transitioned from Black Friday deals to Cyber Monday deals as early as Saturday, they were riding the tailwind of a shopping weekend that found more than 103 million people say they had or planned to shop online Thursday through Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation’s consumer sentiment survey of 4,281 people out Sunday. That’s compared with nearly 102 million people who shopped in stores during the fourday period.
NRF changed its survey methodology this year to account for shifts in online and mobile shopper behavior and most of the results are not comparable to previous years.
The preference for online deals is an encouraging sign for retailers as they roll out another round of online-specific sales heading into December. Although as the shopping season becomes more prolonged, fewer people are expected to shop online on Monday itself compared with last year, 121.3 million vs. 126.9 million in 2014, NRF says.
The data show a marked shift from the days when paper circulars and “doorbusters” enticed consumers into stores.
Online shopping was likely driven by convenience, growing consumer comfort levels and a desire to avoid overflowing stores during the busiest shopping weekend of the year, says Traci Gregorski, vice president of marketing for MarketTrack, a research firm that helps retailers with pricing and advertising strategies.
“The shift to online is not something that anyone can discount at this point,” she says. “It’s part of the reality of retail.” Though she expects more people will be back in stores in December, when crowds are less daunting than during Black Friday weekend.
While the organization can’t compare to last year’s figures, initial feedback from retail executives and shoppers show that the holiday season is on track to hit an expected 3.7% increase in sales, says NRF president and CEO Matt Shay.
“We think we are in a very good place based on the results of the last few days to be right in that range,” he said on a call with reporters Sunday. “You have to look at this in its totality, you can’t look at just in-store or just online.”
One positive sign: Far more people shopped over the holiday weekend than initially predicted, enticed by heavy discounts — half said they shopped in stores because “the deals were too good to pass up” — and easy accessibility to online and mobile shopping. More than 151 million people shopped, compared with about 136 million who said they were going to shop, NRF found.