The most popular retailer for Black Friday deals is…
Analysis of Google search data reveals which retailers are the most popular Black Friday discount destinations overall, and by individual state.
Financial information site FinanceBuzz recently reviewed the most recent five years’ worth of Google search data for Black Friday deals at specific retailers to determine which retailers have the most popular discounts. Results show that The Home Depot is the most popular retailer for Black Friday overall, leading in the states of Georgia (its home state), Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
The top 10 retailers nationwide for Black Friday deals are:
- Home Depot
- Ikea
- Menards
- J.C. Penney
- BJ's Wholesale Club
- T.J. Maxx
- Nordstrom
- Kohl's
- Burlington
- Best Buy
Regional department store chains Belk and Dillards are the most popular stores in Alabama and Arkansas respectively. Belk is headquartered in nearby Charlotte, N.C., and Dillards is an Arkansas-based company headquartered in Little Rock.
Regional Midwestern home improvement chain Menards was top-searched for Black Friday deals in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, but FinanceBuzz analysis reveals it was not a popular choice in its headquarters state of Wisconsin.
In six other states – Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah - Ikea is the most popular retailer for shoppers to monitor for Black Friday sales. And in good news for struggling department store chain J.C. Penney, it is the most-searched retailer for Black Friday discounts in Kentucky, Missouri, and Vermont. Warehouse store retailer BJs Wholesale Club is top-searched for Black Friday deals in Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island.
For a complete list of the favorite Black Friday discount retailers in all 50 states, click here.
Other interesting findings include:
- Over the past five years, consumers have begun searching for Black Friday deals an average of 2.3 weeks before the date.
- Major national retailers Amazon, Walmart, The Home Depot, Target, and Best Buy saw monthly searches for Black Friday decline in 2020. Best Buy saw the sharpest search decline of those five retailers. At its peak in 2017 and 2018, monthly searches in November for "Best Buy Black Friday" topped seven million. Best Buy began to decline in 2019, and then saw a major decline in search interest in 2020.
According to Deloitte’s new “2021 Pre-Thanksgiving Pulse Survey,” which forecast that consumers will spend an average of $448 during the Thanksgiving period (Thursday, Nov. 25 – Monday, Nov. 29), up 12% from 2020, Black Friday is regaining lost ground. Fifty-six percent of surveyed consumers planned to shop in-store, up from 41% in 2020. Black Friday shoppers are expected to spend $135 on average in-store, up from $124 in 2020. The share of online sales for the day is holding steady at 18%.
FinanceBuzz collected Black Friday-specific search volume for top retailers by searching “[retailer] + Black Friday.” The list of department stores and retail companies are generated from Wikipedia. Collected search data covers a five-year period from October 2016 through October 2021. Data was collected between Oct. 22-26, 2021.