Home CE Retail CTA Report: 86% of Shoppers Plan Black Friday Week Tech Gift Buys

CTA Report: 86% of Shoppers Plan Black Friday Week Tech Gift Buys

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For the period ranging from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, 86% of U.S. shoppers said they planned to buy tech devices, accessories and/or streaming services, according to a new report released by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

The 2020 Pre-Black Friday Week Survey finds the top planned purchases for tech shoppers during Thanksgiving Week are wireless earbuds/headphones (53%), down four percentage points from last year, mobile device cases (51%), up five points, streaming or download services (49%, up eight points), smartphones (46%, up five points) and portable battery chargers (44%, up two points).

“Technology has been critical to how we’ve gotten through the pandemic so far, and we’ll see that reflected during the holiday shopping season, too,” said Lesley Rohrbaugh, director, research, CTA. “This season, we’ll see a few unique themes emerge as a result of the pandemic – an earlier shopping period pulled forward into November, an impressive season for buying tech gifts including smartphones and streaming services, and more shoppers than ever using mobile devices to help shop remotely.”

With potential shipping delays, tight retail inventory and in-person shopping protocols affected by the pandemic, many retailers, it was learned, began their holiday sales campaigns ahead of schedule, and more consumers are shopping earlier instead of waiting until Black Friday Week. Compared to last year, more U.S. adults planned to shop in November (45%) – up seven points.

During Black Friday Week specifically, the U.S. will see a slightly lower turnout of general holiday shoppers, with 45% of adults planning to shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday (down four points from 2019) and 30% planning to shop in December, down eight points from last year.

Most U.S. adults purchasing tech during Black Friday Week still plan to shop in brick-and-mortar stores (97%), while more consumers plan to use their mobile devices (86%) and voice-activated digital assistants (51%) to shop compared to last year.

As reported earlier, over the entire holiday shopping season spanning October through December, CTA projected overall tech spending on products and services will reach $135 billion in U.S. revenue, up 10% in 2020. This quantitative study, CTA reports, was administered to an online sample of 2,006 U.S. adults between Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, 2020.

(Photo: Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)