NRF: Black Friday Shopper Numbers Down Over 2011 but More Turning to Mobile

But the drop in numbers doesn’t necessarily mean a drop in sales or profits; rather it could reflect a change in the Black Friday tradition itself. Offers are now posted before the big day and some shopping deals are also available before the Black Friday weekend even gets underway.

“The days of waking up Thanksgiving morning to find out what retailers’ Black Friday promotions will be has transitioned into an ongoing dialogue between companies and their customers starting days in advance,” said BIGinsight Consumer Insights director Pam Goodfellow. “Through sites like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, company blogs, emails and mobile apps, consumers can connect with their favorite retailers like never before.”

As for how the sales announcements are made, even that is changing. Half of respondents (49.5 percent) said they would keep up with advertising circulars throughout the holiday season and three in 10 (30.5 percent) say they would be turning to the TV to keep informed.

A growing number of shoppers prefer to be informed digitally; 26.8 percent will follow retailers’ websites, and 31.4 percent will track emails from retailers in order to get the latest holiday announcements.

And retailers are listening to these changing needs. Retailers’ online, mobile and in-store promotions, especially for their Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday offerings, continue to grow.

According to Shop.org’s eHoliday survey, three in 10 (29 percent) multichannel retailers say they will promote their in-store Black Friday deals with mobile alerts, up significantly from the 18.4 percent who planned to do so last year. Additionally, 80.6 percent will use Facebook to alert shoppers about in-store deals, up from 73.7 percent last year.