The Law and Business of Social Media
November 23, 2015 - Marketing

Black Friday: It’s Not Just About Brick & Mortar Stores Anymore

Black Friday: It’s Not Just About Brick & Mortar Stores Anymore

Here at Socially Aware, we’re focused on Thanksgiving dinner, but we’re well aware that the day after Thanksgiving—Black Friday—is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, and a critical sales day for brick-and-mortar retailers. So we were intrigued to stumble upon some statistics indicating that, although U.S. consumers are still interested in scoring retail bargains on Black Friday, they increasingly prefer to do it from the comfort of their living room sofas. Here, a rundown of consumer behavior on Black Friday last year:

  • At U.S. brick-and-mortar stores, consumers spent just over $9 billion. That was a 7% decline from 2013
  • Online sales amounted to $1.5 billion, up 26% over 2013
  • Due to heavy traffic, the e-commerce sites of Best Buy Co. Inc. and outdoor gear retailer Cabela’s Inc. both went down for a while that day
  • Referrals from Facebook resulted in orders averaging $109.94
  • Referrals from Pinterest resulted in orders averaging $100.23

In our next post, we’ll take a look at Black Friday’s hipper younger brother, Cyber Monday.