Black Friday is one of the most highly anticipated shopping events of the year, with retailers offering steep discounts and promotions on products to entice shoppers to open their wallets.
As the retail industry evolves, so do the trends surrounding Black Friday.
So, we closely examine the latest Black Friday numbers across sales, discounts, and demographics.
Top 6 Black Friday Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- Mobile purchases accounted for 42.4% of Black Friday e-commerce sales in 2021.
- Black Friday discounts amounted to 24% on average in 2021.
- Black Friday 2021 saw activity from approximately 154.5 million American shoppers.
- 55% of France shoppers expected to try a new online store due to free shipping during Black Friday 2021.
- GBP 4.81 billion was the projected online spending in the UK during the Black Friday weekend of 2022.
- Black Friday 2021 saw a 79.88% average cart abandonment rate.
Infographic
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/black-friday-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-6-black-friday-statistics.png" alt="Top 6 Black Friday Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="695.02262443439" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-6-black-friday-statistics-768x695.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-6-black-friday-statistics-300x272.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-6-black-friday-statistics-1024x927.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-6-black-friday-statistics.png 1326w" sizes="auto"></a>
Black Friday Sales Statistics
1. Online sales on Black Friday rose by 2.3% between 2021-2022.
In 2022, Black Friday online sales hit $9.12 billion, recording a 2.3% increase compared to 2021.
2. In 2021, clothing and accessories were the most popular category on Black Friday.
51% of the consumers patronized the clothing and accessories category, followed by toys (32%).
Below are the top five most popular categories on Black Friday 2021.
| Categories | Purchase From Consumers (%) |
|---|---|
| Clothing and accessories | 51 |
| Toys | 32 |
| Gift cards | 28 |
| Books and other media | 27 |
| Electronics | 24 |
3. Mobile purchases accounted for 42.4% of Black Friday e-commerce sales in 2021.
This figure corresponds to nearly $3.7 billion, a record for Black Friday, and a 2% rise over the prior year.
4. Amazon was the top Black Friday retailer in 2021.
Amazon amassed 17.7% of the 2021 Black Friday sales, Walmart took a 10.9% share, and Target came third with 5.7%. During the promotion, Best Buy grabbed the fourth spot with 4.6% of total sales.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/black-friday-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/total-sales-volume-share-black-friday-retailer.png" alt="Total Sales Volume Share by Black Friday Retailer" width="768" border="0" height="415.82320441989" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/total-sales-volume-share-black-friday-retailer-768x416.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/total-sales-volume-share-black-friday-retailer-300x162.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/total-sales-volume-share-black-friday-retailer-1024x554.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/total-sales-volume-share-black-friday-retailer.png 1448w" sizes="auto"></a>
5. More than half of Black Friday purchases in 2021 were impulse buys.
Impulse purchases accounted for 58% of Black Friday 2021 transactions, while 42% were planned.
Black Friday Discounts Statistics
6. Black Friday discounts amounted to 24% on average in 2021.
This discount was 2% to 4% lower than averages over previous years.
The table below shows the average discount per item category during the sales event.
| Item | Discount (%) |
|---|---|
| Computers | 25 |
| Electronics | 22 |
| Appliances | 16 |
| Toys | 16 |
| TVs | 15 |
| Clothes | 15 |
| Sporting goods | 14 |
7. 77% of Black Friday 2022 shoppers said clothing and shoes had the highest discounts online.
However, only 23% of shoppers said clothing and shoe items had the best deals in-store.
Another 71% said video games had the best online discount, while 28% insisted they had the best discount in-store. Jewelry shoppers almost got a tie, with 51% saying they had the best discount online, while 49% preferred the in-store deals they got.
8. 44% of German respondents believed the Black Friday 2022 discounts were much higher than discounts in the rest of the year.
In the same survey, 40% of the respondents said discounts were slightly higher during this shopping event. Only 16% said discounts were similar to what they got in the rest of the year.
Black Friday Shoppers Statistics
9. Black Friday 2021 saw activity from approximately 154.5 million American shoppers.
Of those Americans who shopped on Black Friday, 66.5 million shopped in-store, and 88 million shopped online.
10. Walmart was predicted to be the most visited store for in-person shopping on Black Friday 2022.
There was an expected 32% of consumers who would shop in person.
Of these, 62% were expected to buy at Walmart, 58% at Target, and 34% from other shopping malls or centers.
11. Over half of US shoppers planned to shop online during Black Friday 2022.
55% of United States shoppers planned to shop online, while 30% intended to shop in-store. 14% of American shoppers decided they would not shop during Black Friday 2022.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/black-friday-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/shoppers-preference-black-friday.png" alt="UK Shopper Preferences on Black Friday" width="768" border="0" height="502.51851851852" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/shoppers-preference-black-friday-768x503.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/shoppers-preference-black-friday-300x196.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
12. 55% of France shoppers would try a new online store due to free shipping during Black Friday 2021.
53% would switch to a new online store due to great deals, and 41% would try a new online store to enjoy fast shipping.
Below are the top five reasons for France shoppers to try a new online store during Black Friday 2021.
| Reason | Shoppers (%) |
|---|---|
| Free shipping | 55 |
| Great deals | 53 |
| Fast shipping | 41 |
| Discount on products that are not discounted anywhere | 36 |
| Written user reviews | 26 |
Black Friday Demographics Statistics
13. 9% of Italians planned to spend over €750 during Black Friday 2021.
In the same survey, 4% of the respondents said they would spend between €501 and €750 during Black Friday 2021. 30% said they would shell out between €251 and €500, and 22% insisted on between €151 to €250.
Another 15% of the respondents said they would spend up to 150 euros.
14. 70% of United States consumers thought Black Friday 2022 offered good value.
Of the 70%, 41% of respondents claimed that despite the exceptional bargain, it was not always worth the extra effort of shopping on that day. 30% of the US consumers said the event does not offer good value, with 21% claiming that retailers increase product prices and discount them.
15. In 2022, Generation Z was the dominant Black Friday demographic.
75% of Gen Zers expected to shop during Black Friday 2022, and 84% agreed that the offered deals were good. It was also estimated that Generation Z would spend $365 per head, while Generation Xers would spend $345 per person.
16. 16% of UK Gen Zers planned to make in-store purchases on Black Friday 2022.
8% and 5% of millennials and Generation Xers also anticipated making in-store purchases during the promotional event. 13% of baby boomers also preferred in-store purchases.
Black Friday Marketing Statistics
17. 36% of Black Friday 2022 shoppers were predicted to search for deals on Google.
25% of Black Friday 2022 shoppers were expected to search for deals on social media instead, while 19% would look at company websites. 21% of shoppers looked for Black Friday deals from other sources.
18. Facebook Messenger had the highest marketing click-through rates for Black Friday 2021.
Facebook Messenger had an 8.6% click-through rate, followed by SMS with 7.9%, and web push notifications came third (3.8%).
Black Friday Cart Abandonment Statistics
19. Black Friday 2021 saw a 79.88% average cart abandonment rate.
This figure is lower than the 80.68% global average e-commerce cart abandonment rate.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/black-friday-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/e-commerce-cart-abandonment-rate.png" alt="E-Commerce Cart Abandonment Rate" width="768" border="0" height="376.0987654321" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/e-commerce-cart-abandonment-rate-768x376.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/e-commerce-cart-abandonment-rate-300x147.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/e-commerce-cart-abandonment-rate-1024x501.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/e-commerce-cart-abandonment-rate.png 1458w" sizes="auto"></a>
20. The highest Black Friday 2021 cart abandonments happened on mobile.
Mobile recorded a 73.8% cart abandonment during Black Friday in 2021.
Tablet had the second most abandonment rate (68.5%), and PC fared best (64.8%).
Other Black Friday Statistics and Trends
21. Nintendo Switch was the most searched item globally during Black Friday 2021.
“Nintendo Switch” generated 1.22 million searches in November 2021, followed by “Airpods” with 550,000 searches.
The table below shows the top five most searched products during Black Friday 2021.
| Product | Searches (in 1000s) |
|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch | 1,220 |
| Airpods | 550 |
| Apple Watch | 550 |
| Dayson | 450 |
| PS5 | 368 |
In September 2021, the United States had a 21.2% share of Black Friday searches, followed by Germany (12.9%) and Brazil (10%). The United Kingdom and Spain came fourth and fifth, respectively, with 10.3% and 6.3% of Black Friday-related searches for the year.
23. Over 6 in 10 shoppers in 2022 believed Black Friday was a scam.
81% of respondents also opined that Black Friday promotes excessive consumerism. Surprisingly, 80% of respondents still intended to shop during Black Friday 2022.
24. £4.81 billion was the projected online spending in the UK during the Black Friday weekend of 2022.
This figure dropped from £5.74 billion in 2021, representing around a 16% decrease.
25. Nearly 50% of consumers believed brands pushed low-quality products during Black Friday 2022.
48% of consumers believed companies promoted low-quality products in 2022, better than 56% holding the same opinion in 2021.
Final Word
Black Friday continues evolving, with new trends and statistics emerging yearly.
Consumers can take advantage of the best deals by staying on top of the latest trends and statistics, while retailers can better plan and execute their Black Friday strategies.
And if you are an avid shopper, explore the best Black Friday VPN deals to boost your privacy and security while shopping online. You can also use those VPNs to beat price discrimination and connect to locations offering better deals than yours!
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