Accenture: Here’s what Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers want
New Accenture data reveals who plans on shopping Black Friday/Cyber Monday, how they will shop and what will drive purchases.
Two-thirds of all U.S. consumers surveyed by Accenture intend to participate in Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales this year. Of those respondents, only 3.5% say they make impulse purchases without prior research while 32% research weeks or months in advance and 45% plan to research closer to the sale date.
More than four-in-10 (43%) respondents keep several brands in consideration and make their final decision at time of purchase based on discounts.
Younger shoppers take the lead
Accenture data also indicates Black Friday/Cyber Monday participation skews young. Among all surveyed consumers, 84% of Gen Z and 77% of millennials plan to participate, compared with 66% of Gen X and 49% of baby boomers.
Of those participating, 46% of millennials and 40% of Gen Z plan to research weeks or months in advance, compared with only 26% of Gen X and 14% of baby boomers. Younger respondents are also more likely to increase spending on Black Friday/Cyber Monday experiences: 25% of all Gen Z and 18% of all millennials plan to increase spending on eating and drinking out over Thanksgiving weekend, compared with 10% of all Gen X and only 2.5% of all baby boomers.
Younger shoppers more open to AI
When asked which information sources they'll use to prepare for Black Friday/Cyber Monday:
- Almost one-in-four (23%) participating respondents plan to use a retailer's or brand's own generative AI tool and 21% plan to use a public AI platform such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity.
- Gen Z is leading the shift to generative AI: 30% plan to use a retailer's or brand's own generative AI tool, and 30% plan to use a public AI platform.
- Three-in-10 (29%) respondents plan to do online research and 12% plan to visit stores to compare products and prices.
[READ MORE: Consumers to use AI tools for holiday product discovery, information]
Other findings
- Among all respondents, nine-in-10 plan to start shopping before Black Friday/Cyber Monday, with nearly 20% having started before August.
- More than four-in-10 (44%) respondents still visit stores to see, touch or try products before buying.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday still matter, but they're no longer a single day,” said Kelly Askew, global retail industry lead at Accenture. “They've become a multi-week event, and the days of simply waiting and rolling the dice on a holiday sale are fading. Cost-conscious shoppers are researching earlier, watching for deals and becoming much more deliberate about when, where and how they spend. For retailers, the challenge is to make the shortlist early and then give shoppers a reason to choose them when holiday spending matters most.
Accenture's 20th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey involved 4,048 U.S. consumers. Respondents were split by gender and across age groups: 13% Gen Z (ages 18-29), 29% millennials (30-45), 26% Gen X (46-61) and 32% baby boomers (62-80).
