NPD Group Blog » They Came With A Purpose

They Came With A Purpose

Saturday, November 26th, 2011
By Stephen Baker, Vice President, Industry Analysis

Preliminary results from The NPD Group’s The Anatomy of Black Friday study show that the aggressive pricing posture taken by the CE industry appears to have paid off. Significantly more tech shoppers were driven into the stores (or online) by the prospect of a great, desirable product at a great price. Almost 65 percent of tech purchasers bought in 2011 because they saw what they really wanted on sale. In addition, 28 percent were enticed by the big sales available at the specific retailer where they were shopping. Both of those numbers were approximately 50 percent higher than the overall population of Black Friday shoppers and 10 percent higher than last year.

Electronics also continued to be the second most popular category for buyers during Black Friday after clothing. More than 23 percent of Black Friday shoppers purchased some type of electronics product, 15 percent more than last year and 50 percent above toys, which was the third most popular category. And they came for TVs which saw a 30 percent increase in purchasers this year over last year and passed computers as the most popular electronics category (excluding video games).

While the advertising focus seemed to be on the smaller screen TVs, that emphasis seemed to be a bit misplaced, or at least redirected by the consumer towards the deals available on larger screen TVs. Twenty-six percent of Black Friday tech purchasers plan to spend more than $1000 during this holiday season, which is 10 percent more than last year and higher than the less than 19 percent of total shoppers. We certainly observed this as we saw a lot of small screen (under 40”) products available at retail long after the Doorbuster rush had passed. The earlier buyers this year were clearly the big spenders.

Electronics retailers also fared very well. Best Buy was the fourth most frequently shopped retailer behind Walmart, Target, and Amazon - all retailers that sell a much wider variety of products than Best Buy. In addition, the number of shoppers - which fell across all retailers - fell much less sharply at Best Buy, and Best Buy’s customers who came actually purchased. More than 58 percent of Best Buy shoppers bought compared to just 38 percent of last year’s buyers, the biggest increase in conversion among any of the top four retailers. And to further cement the idea that great prices on big screens helped Best Buy to be successful, Best Buy saw an increase in male shoppers, and those male shoppers were much more likely to finish their purchase there this year versus last year.

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