More than half of North Carolinians won’t shop on Black Friday
(The Center Square) – More than half of North Carolinians said they will not shop on Black Friday this year, according to a High Point University poll.
High Point University surveyed 968 North Carolina residents from Oct. 22 to Nov. 4. The survey showed 58% of respondents said they will not shop on Black Friday, and more plan to do their showing online this year instead of in stores.
The survey showed a slight shift in consumer spending habits, which High Point University analysts believe was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The poll showed 40% of North Carolinians said the pandemic affected their holiday decisions.
“Along with the ongoing return to normalcy, we see some return to brick-and-mortar shopping,” said Daniel Hall, interim dean of the Earl N. Phillips School of Business. “This return, however, is not happening on Black Friday, which historically refers to brick-and-mortar, and Cyber Monday to online shopping. Some North Carolinians may be shopping earlier than Black Friday in anticipation of supply chain constraints.”
According to the poll, only 18% of North Carolinians plan to do most of their holiday shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, while 37% plan to do most of their shopping online. An additional 32% of respondents said they would do both. In a similar poll conducted by High Point in 2019, 24% of respondents said they would do most of their shopping in stores.
More than half of North Carolinians said they still would do their shopping around the same time as last year. Another 31% said they would start shopping earlier than usual.
While overall spending on holiday items so far this year has decreased by more than $200 compared with 2019, before the pandemic, 42% of respondents said they plan to spend the same amount during the holidays this year compared with last year. Another 33% said they plan to spend less, and 21% said they would spend more than last year.
In another High Point University poll released Nov. 10, 41% of North Carolina residents said now is a bad time to make a major household purchase.
The Black Friday poll has a margin of error of 3.3%.
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