Shopping a Part of This Year’s Thanksgiving Plans

More than half (55%) of Americans plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day, according to Ebates 2015 Holiday survey.

The survey results show 48% of Americans plan to shop on Black Friday, and 42% plan on shopping on Cyber Monday. When asked why they choose to begin holiday shopping on Thanksgiving, 39% said it is because Black Friday deals are actually starting earlier. This is followed by better selection of products that haven’t been picked over (24%), and killing time after eating Thanksgiving dinner (18%).

The survey also discovered that 28% plan to eat an earlier Thanksgiving dinner in order to get a head start on shopping, and one in five (20%) say they will scope out deals instead of cooking in the earlier part of the day. There are some Americans who will skip a home cooked meal altogether—9% reveal that they’d rather eat out in order to get a jump start on the Black Friday sales.

When asked why they plan to shop on Black Friday, 81% say it is because they want to get the best prices on holiday gifts, and 43% say it is a family tradition. Nearly one-quarter (24%) say they will shop on Black Friday to get all of their holiday shopping done in one day, and one in five (20%) say it’s because they ‘love the madness.’

But, not all Black Friday shopping will be in-store. More than half (52%) of survey respondents reveal that they will shop online via their laptop. This is followed by a home computer (37%), and a mobile device (29%). Only 4% say they will do any Black Friday shopping via smart watch.

Of those Americans who do not shop primarily on Thanksgiving, Black Friday or Cyber Monday, 39% say they do their holiday shopping in October, and 31% admit to doing their holiday shopping very last minute—the week before Christmas. One-third (34%) do their holiday shopping year-round, and 10% say they do their holiday shopping in the summer to avoid the holiday crowds.

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Instant.ly on behalf of Ebates.com in October among 1,128 adults ages 18 and older and 516 teens ages 13 to 16.

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