CE group says online sales set record

Tablets, headphones and gaming hardware were the most frequently purchased consumer electronics products during a weekend which saw more than half of CE sales occur online.

The Consumer Electronics Association said 55% of U.S. adults who bought consumer electronics on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday did so online, well ahead of the 45% who did so in 2012.

Almost 39 million U.S. adults shopped on Thanksgiving Day, an increase of more than 10 million shoppers from last year, according to CEA, and roughly 35% of them purchased consumer electronics. Among the 35% that bought a CE product through the weekend, tablets (29%) were the most popular, followed by headphone (24%), video game hardware (21%), smartphones (19%) and laptop/notebook computers (17%) were the next most commonly purchased CE products during the first two days of the holiday weekend.

“Consumers appear to have responded to retailers’ strong push to get them in the stores and online early this year,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research. “The dust is still settling, but early indications point to a weekend of record-breaking online sales and a healthy appetite for key tech products.”

CEA predicts 126 million U.S. adults will have shopped through Monday of the 2013 Thanksgiving weekend. Once again, tech was second only to clothes as the most popular item purchased over the weekend with toys rounding out the top three. Through Friday, 66% of those shopping purchased clothing, 35% bought electronics and 33% bought toys.

The CEA findings are based on the results of a telephone survey of 622 adults conducted November 29-30.