Aecoc: 60% of consumers plan to buy during Black Friday

By James Calloway

Sixty percent of consumers plan to buy at least one product during Black Friday, according to a survey by Aecoc and Gelt Solutions.

The survey points to broad interest in the promotional period. It measures stated purchase intentions, not completed sales. Its most useful detail sits beyond a simple demand forecast: shoppers have reasons to shop early, but many still question the appeal of the offers.

How will shoppers use the campaign?

Aecoc’s survey found that 53% of consumers plan to use Black Friday to advance purchases linked to Christmas. The campaign functions as a way to pull holiday buying forward.

The same survey found that 49% intend to use the promotional period to save on products they had already planned to buy. This group is shopping for a discount on an established need, not using the event to decide what to buy.

Aecoc also found that 45% of consumers plan to use Black Friday to access products coming onto the market. That makes new releases one of three purchase purposes in the survey, alongside Christmas purchases and discounts on planned items.

The survey gives Black Friday three jobs at once: advance Christmas buying, cut the price of planned items and introduce new products.

What limits higher Black Friday purchases?

Aecoc’s research identifies perceived value, not logistics, as the main barrier to increasing Black Friday purchases. For marketers, the survey shifts attention from fulfillment to the strength of the offer.

The size of that problem is substantial: 45% of consumers say they do not find offers sufficiently interesting during the campaign. For retailers, that points to a need for products and pricing that shoppers consider worthwhile, not just a well-run promotional operation.

The practical constraint is offer appeal, not logistics.

Which categories lead buyer interest?

Fashion leads buyer interest, according to Aecoc. The category covers clothing, footwear and accessories and draws purchase intention from 50% of consumers.

Aecoc’s survey places general gifts second, with interest from 47% of buyers. The gap between fashion and gifts is three percentage points, keeping the two categories close at the top of the ranking.

Information technology, phones and home appliances complete the top three, registering a 40% purchase intention. That puts the group seven percentage points behind gifts and ten behind fashion.

Retailers should weight fashion first, gifting second and technology-related products third when planning Black Friday campaigns.

What should marketers take from the survey?

Intent starts high: 60% of consumers say they plan to make a Black Friday purchase. The reasons for that intent differ. Christmas timing accounts for 53%, planned-item savings for 49% and access to new launches for 45%.

The same survey shows the risk of treating broad interest as a guarantee. With 45% of consumers finding the offers insufficiently interesting, Aecoc’s research makes offer relevance central to the promotional plan.

Retailers need to meet shoppers’ expectations with products worth buying, while keeping the highest stated purchase interest in focus: fashion at 50%, gifts at 47%, and information technology, phones and home appliances at 40%.

For marketers, that means the campaign must pair category strength with stronger offer appeal. Aecoc’s 60% purchase intention provides the scale; its 45% offer-interest finding sets the hurdle.