Black Friday: Experts Weigh In On Most Hyped Shopping Day Of Year

TAMPA BAY, FL — Some people love Black Friday. They spend Thanksgiving Day scoping out deals, planning strategies for which stores to hit first, then rising before dawn to be among the first in line

Others avoid Black Friday like the ... well, Black Plague. They can't think of anything more torturous than wading through throngs of people, getting into tugging matches with strangers over the one remaining must-have toy of the season.

Regardless of which category you're in, Black Friday is inarguably the most closely analyzed and overly hyped retail shopping day of the year, generating predictions, surveys and comparisons of retail ad circulars, all to determine who has the best deals in an attempt to attract shoppers.

Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, in-person shopping on Black Friday was down 37 percent while the number of Americans shopping online on Black Friday passed the 100 million threshold for the first time, according to the personal website WalletHub.

In its annual report on Best Places To Shop on Black Friday, WalletHub predicts people will head back to the stores this year. The question is, will they find great deals?

To answer that question, WalletHub surveyed nearly 5,000 deals from 21 of the biggest U.S. retailers’ 2021 Black Friday ad scans. The finance experts at the website found some deals but they also found reason for consumers to be cautious. Some deals aren't as good as they seem and zero percent retail credit cards may comes with strings attached.

• Macy’s, JCPenney and Belk are 2021’s Best Places to Shop on Black Friday, offering an average discount of at least 56.7 percent.
• Around 11 percent of items at major retailers will be more expensive on Black Friday than their current Amazon.com prices.
• Consumer packaged goods will offer the most value on Black Friday 2021 relative to their current prices, while computers and phones are expected to have the least rewarding deals.
• One in four people are foregoing holiday gifts this year due to COVID-19, according to WalletHub’s 2021 Coronavirus and Holiday Shopping Survey.
• Starbucks, Target and Nike top the list of 2021’s Best Gift Cards.
• Consumers can save $500+ with one of 2021’s Best Credit Cards for Holiday Shopping.
• Some consumers already have access to little-known credit card benefits that can come in handy over the holidays, including price-drop protection and coverage for damaged or stolen items.
• Ninety-nine percent of store credit cards do not charge an annual fee, and the average card offering rewards in the form of discounts gives you 17 percent off your first purchase, according to WalletHub’s 2021 Store Card Landscape Report.
• Forty-one percent of the major retailers offering 0 percent financing use a dangerous feature called deferred interest, which has the potential to make holiday purchases up to 27.5 times more expensive than expected.

Joining the Black Friday analysis frenzy in the appropriately named website BlackFriday.com which predicts a lot of frustration and stress for shoppers due to product shortages caused by supply chain issues

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BlackFriday.com conducted a survey to 1,082 U.S. consumers to dig into upcoming trends and insights for the 2021 holiday and Black Friday shopping season and concluded:

• In-store shopping will make a comeback in 2021, with 77 percent of consumers ready to go the retail route.
• Big box stores (e.g. Walmart and Target) are will don the Black Friday crown in 2021, with e-commerce retailers like Amazon and department stores like Macy and Kohl's not too far behind. For the past two years, Amazon has been the reigning champ, so this represents a shift.
• Many shoppers (66 percent) are well aware of the potential for pandemic-induced shipping delays this year and are planning to get their holiday shopping done as early as possible.
• Sixty-one percent of consumers say price is the biggest determining factor when buying gifts, and 62 percent of shoppers say they search for as many deals as possible before purchasing gifts.
• Budget and finances cause shoppers the most stress (45 percent) on Black Friday with not knowing what to buy (42 percent) and crowds (39 percent) close behind.
• A quarter of shoppers have pandemic-related concerns with their stress stemming from health, sanitary and safety standards in-stores.

The website RetailMeNot, which promotes itself as shopping adviser "with a team of savings sleuths delivering the best deals, tips and tricks to help you save at your favorite brands, stores and restaurants," also weighed in on Black Friday.

RetailMeNot surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers to dig into the top trends of 2021. It found:

• Consumers are spending an average of $885.76 this year on holiday shopping, up $120 from the 2020 average.
• The top categories they're shopping this year break down as:

1. Apparel/clothing: 58 percent
2. Gift cards: 54 percent
3. Toys: 40 percent
4. Small electronics (smartphones, smartwatches, headphones): 38 percent
5. Food and beverage (e.g., food baskets, wine, liquor): 36 percent
6. Jewelry: 32 percent
7. Makeup and skincare: 29 percent
8. Large electronics (TVs, laptops, gaming consoles): 26 percent

• Eighty-three percent of shoppers say they’ll get started on their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, with the majority (24 percent) starting in November.
• Consumers say they’ll do more than half (51 percent) of their shopping online and 49 percent of their shopping in stores this holiday season. Last year, about 56 percent said they'd prefer to shop online.
• Forty-six percent of shoppers are more likely to purchase from a retailer if they offer free shipping, and 45 percent are more likely to shop the retailer that has the lowest price on a certain gift.
• Overall, Americans shop online more than they did before the pandemic — and one-fourth have started using hybrid shopping options (like curbside pickup).
• Most shoppers (71 percent) said they'll be looking for deal and discounts on Black Friday while 52 percent say they're more interested in competitive pricing and price matching.