'Wait-and-see' mentality lowers Black Friday projections

A National Retail Federal-commissioned survey projects 140.1 million shoppers will participate in this year’s Thanksgiving weekend shopping holiday.

That’s down slightly from the 140.3 million projection in last year’s survey. This year, the Nov. 3-10 survey of 6,593 consumers was conducted for the NRF by Prosper Insights & Analytics with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.3 percent, according to a news release.

The survey found 61.1 percent of respondents may shop at least one day Thursday-Sunday, while 31.6 percent said they would wait to see see if deals are worth it.

The survey predicts 67.6 million shoppers have made specific plans to make purchases either in stores or online.

“We could witness a sea change this holiday season as consumers’ reliance on extremely deep discounts over the biggest shopping weekend of the year shifts to more of a ‘wait-and-see’ mentality around what retailers will be offering on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in the release.

Of the 61.1 percent who indicated they’d shop during the retail holiday, 18.3 percent said they would check out deals on Thanksgiving Day. Of those, 74 percent said they shopped during Turkey Day last year.

The survey also polled shoppers on their Small Business Saturday plans. Some 73 percent said they will or may specifically shop during the retail holiday coined for local deals, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]