Cyber Week includes some of the biggest holiday shopping events of the year. From Black Friday to Small Business Saturday to Cyber Monday, many stores offer huge discounts that draw in thousands of customers all Thanksgiving weekend long.
Recently, Drive Research launched our 3rd annual cyber week survey. We polled nearly 1,200 consumers across the U.S. to learn more about their shopping habits, preferences, and attitudes surrounding Black Friday 2022 – plus how it compares to years past.
Top holiday shopping statistics for 2022 (editor’s choice):
- 20% of people spend $1,000 or more on holiday shopping
- 69% of people will shop online for Black Friday, while only 32% of people will shop in-person
- 64% of people will shop on Cyber Monday in 2022 – a 42% increase from 2021
- Walmart and Target will be the most popular places to shop in person on Black Friday
- 1 in 4 people will start shopping in person on Friday, Nov. 25th between 5 AM and 10 AM
- 79% of consumers agree retail locations should be closed on Thanksgiving
- 46% of people will only wait for less than 30-minutes in line to enter a store on Black Friday
- 38% of shoppers will wait in a checkout line for 30-minutes to an hour on Black Friday
- Majority of shoppers are more likely to shop at stores that offer BOPUS (54%)
- 47% of shoppers agree shopping malls are important for their holiday shopping
- Amazon and Target will be the most popular places to shop online during Cyber Week
- Clothing, electronics, and toys will be the biggest purchases during Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Clothing and arts and crafts supplies will be the biggest purchases on Small Business Saturday
- 26% of people won’t finish their holiday shopping until the week leading up to Christmas
- Not liking large crowds (58%) is the top reason people won’t shop during cyber week 2022
20% of people spend $1,000 or more on holiday shopping
It’s the most expensive time of the year. 20% of shoppers plan to spend $1,000 or more on holiday spending – a 43% increase from Black Friday 2021. It appears that inflation is not slowing down how much consumers are willing to spend on holiday gifts for loved ones (or themselves).
More commonly, people will spend $200 to $399 (23%) and $400 to $599 (22%) during Cyber Week 2022.
Demographic breakdowns
- Gen X is most likely to spend $1,000 or more on holiday shopping (24%)
- Those with HHI of $100,000+ are more likely to spend $1,000 on holiday shopping (85%)
- 16% of male shoppers will spend less than $200
69% of people will shop online for Black Friday, while only 32% will shop in-person
The rise of online shopping is something that has been looming for years but was only exacerbated by the pandemic. People quickly saw the ease and convenience of gift shopping from the comfort of their own homes.
2022 Black Friday will be no different with 69% of people shopping online and 32% of people shopping in person. Compared to 2021, online Black Friday shopping will see a 33% increase, and in-person Black Friday shopping will see a 9% decrease.
Demographic breakdowns
- Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z are the generations who will shop online the most (86%)
- Female shoppers (73%) are more likely to shop online for Black Friday than males (65%)
64% of people will shop on Cyber Monday in 2022 – a 42% increase from 2021
Similar to online Black Friday, Cyber Monday will also see an increase in business. In fact, Cyber Monday 2022 will be the second most popular shopping day during Cyber Week 2022.
64% of those surveyed plan to shop on Cyber Monday (November 28th, 2022). This is a 42% increase from our 2021 survey. It’s a strong percentage that only highlights the need for brick-and-mortar locations to focus on creating or improving their online stores.
Demographic breakdowns
- 49% of people who are part of the Silent Generation or Baby Boomers will shop on Cyber Monday
- Female consumers (69%) are more likely to shop on Cyber Monday than males (58%)
Walmart and Target will be the most popular places to shop in person on Black Friday 2022
Of the 32% of consumers that will shop in person on Black Friday 2022, most will visit Walmart (62%), Target (58%), and shopping malls or centers (34%).
For those planning to shop for holiday deals at these retail locations, Walmart will open at 5 AM on Friday and Target will open at 7 AM.
Demographic breakdowns
- Those in suburban areas are more likely to shop at Target (63%), while only 41% of people living in rural areas will shop at Target – Walmart will be the store of choice for rural communities (79%)
- Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z are more likely to shop at Target (69%), while Gen X (64%) and Silent Generation/Baby Boomers (60%) will shop at Walmart
- Walmart (61%), Target (61%), and shopping malls (37%) are where women will shop more in person on Black Friday
- Walmart (67%), Target (55%), and Best Buy (47%) are where men will shop more in person on Black Friday
1 in 4 people will start shopping in person on Friday, Nov. 25th between 5 AM and 10 AM
Black Friday shopping is a long-standing tradition for many families across the U.S. In previous years, people would wait in lines for hours before stores opened their doors at midnight.
In 2022, 31% of consumers will start their Black Friday shopping on Thursday, while 15% will start their gift buying on Friday between 12 AM and 5 AM.
However, because many of these same store deals are offered online, we have started to see less chaos and urgency to be first in line. In fact, our survey showed that the majority of people will start their Black Friday shopping Friday morning and early afternoon.
More specifically, 26% of people will start between 5 AM and 10 AM, 20% will start Friday between 10 AM to 2 PM, and 8% will start after 2 PM.
79% of consumers agree retail locations should be closed on Thanksgiving
It wasn’t too long ago that stores start their Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving. It was a tradition that started in 2011 with many retail locations like Walmart and Target opening at midnight.
While not met without controversy, stores continued opening their doors earlier and earlier – some even opening at 2 PM on Thanksgiving Day.
This trend was stopped in its tracks in 2020 as the pandemic forced many stores to close on Thanksgiving and limit holiday shopping to Friday only.
As in-person shopping returns to normal it begs the question, “Should retail locations stay closed on Thanksgiving?” Our survey showed that 79% of consumers agree they should remain closed.
Here is a full list of stores staying closed on Thanksgiving 2022.
Demographic breakdowns
- Women (80%) were slightly more likely to agree that retail locations should be closed on Thanksgiving than men (75%)
- Silent Generation/Baby Boomers (63%) were the most likely to strongly agree retail locations should be closed on Thanksgiving compared to Gen X (55%) and Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z (53%)
46% of people will only wait for less than 30-minutes in line to enter a store on Black Friday
With many of the same deals and discounts being offered in-store and online, waiting in long lines on Black Friday seem to be a thing of the past.
According to our survey, 30-minutes is the cut-off time for many consumers when it comes to waiting in line to enter a store (46%).
While others will wait 30 minutes to 1 hour (31%), 1 to 2 hours (14%), and over 2 hours (9%).
Demographic breakdowns
- 18% of Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z would wait 1 to 2 hours in line, while only 13% of Gen X and 8% of Silent Generation/Baby Boomers would wait that long to enter a store
38% of shoppers will wait in a checkout line for 30-minutes to an hour on Black Friday
Similarly to waiting in line to enter a store, people have less patience when it comes to waiting in checkout lines as well – however, there seems to be a little more leniency here.
Here is what we found.
44% of Black Friday shoppers will wait in a checkout line no more than 30 minutes, while others will wait 30 minutes to 1 hour (38%), 1 to 2 hours (12%), and over 2 hours (6%).
Demographic breakdowns
- Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z are most likely to stand longer in checkout lines with 21% reporting they’d wait for 1 to 2+ hours
Majority of shoppers are more likely to shop at stores that offer BOPUS (54%)
Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPUS) is the biggest trend to hit retail stores in years.
It allows consumers to shop and pay for a brand’s products online, retail employees prepare the order, and when it's ready customers drive to the store and pick it up.
Again – the convenience and time savings are HUGE for today’s buyers.
Retail locations that offer this service for their Thanksgiving weekend deals are likely to see more business when compared to businesses that don’t offer in-store pickup.
In fact, our survey found that 54% of U.S. shoppers agree they are more likely to shop at stores that offer 'buy online, pick up in store' capabilities this Black Friday.
Demographic breakdowns
- Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z (66%) are more likely to shop at stores that offer BOPUS compared to Gen X (51%) and Silent Generation/Baby Boomers (46%)
47% of shoppers agree shopping malls are important for their holiday shopping
In April, analysts at UBS projected that 40,000-50,000 American retail stores would shut down by 2027, signaling that U.S. malls are dying. And as our Black Friday 2022 survey has shown, the majority of consumers are doing their holiday shopping online this year.
However, interestingly enough, 47% of shoppers still agree that shopping malls are important for their holiday shopping. In fact, shopping malls were the 3rd largest retail location in-person shoppers reported they’ll be visiting on Black Friday.
In contrast, 30% of shoppers do not agree shopping centers are important for gift shopping, and 20% neither agreed nor disagreed.
Demographic breakdowns
- Gen X (51%) and Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z (50%) are more likely to agree shopping malls are important for their holiday shopping compared to Silent Generation/Baby Boomers (40%)
- Those who live in urban areas are more likely to agree shopping malls are important for their holiday shopping (51%) compared to rural (38%) areas
- Those in rural areas feel the least safe when visiting shopping malls or centers (31%)
- Males (69%) are more likely to feel safe when visiting shopping malls than women (55%)
Amazon and Target will be the most popular places to shop online during Cyber Week
Amazon (80%), Target (51%), and Walmart (50%) were the top selected online stores consumers will shop for on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Other common answers included Kohl’s (28%), Best Buy (26%), Old Navy (19%), Costco (18%), and Macy’s (18%).
Demographic breakdowns
- Amazon was the top store for Cyber Monday and online Black Friday shopping across all demographics
- Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z (60%) and Gen X (56%) are more likely to online shop at Target, while the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers will online shop at Walmart (43%)
Clothing, electronics, and toys will be the biggest purchases during Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Consumers participating in Thanksgiving weekend shopping seem to have similar shopping lists with clothing and electronics being the top items people plan to purchase.
In-person Black Friday shoppers plan to buy clothes (82%), electronics (73%), and toys (53%).
Online Black Friday shoppers plan to buy clothes (74%), electronics (70%), and toys (45%).
Cyber Monday shoppers plan to buy electronics (67%), clothes (61%), and toys (36%).
Demographic breakdowns
- 78% of men will shop online during Black Friday for electronics, while 77% of women will shop for clothing and accessories
Clothing and arts and crafts supplies will be the biggest purchases on Small Business Saturday
36% of consumers plan to shop on Small Business Saturday 2022 – a 100% increase from 2021 (18%). As for what they plan on buying, our market research company saw some differences from the other days of Cyber Week.
Our survey found that Small Business Saturday shoppers plan to buy clothes (48%), arts and crafts supplies (42%), books (30%), and interior home design décor (27%).
Demographic breakdowns
- Women are more likely to shop on Small Business Saturday (39%) than men (29%)
- Females will buy clothing (48%) and arts and crafts (44%)
- Males will buy clothing (44%) and books (38%)
- People in the south are less likely to shop on Small Business Saturday (29%) compared to those in the Northeast (40%), West (38%), and Midwest (37%)
26% of people won’t finish their holiday shopping until the week leading up to Christmas
Cyber Week is only the beginning for most holiday shopping purchases. In fact, only 19% of people will have completed their holiday gift shopping after Cyber Week.
More commonly, 47% of people won’t finish buying holiday gifts until early-to-mid December while 26% of consumers won’t be done until the week leading up to Christmas.
And I want to give an honorable mention to the 8% of people who finish their Christmas gift buying before Thanksgiving.
Demographic breakdowns
- Early to mid-December was the most common answer across all demographic breakdowns
- Gen X is the most likely to finish their holiday shopping the week leading up to Christmas (30%)
Not liking large crowds (58%) is the top reason people won’t shop during Cyber Week 2022
Cyber Week isn’t for everyone. In 2022, 18% of people will not participate in Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday. Although, that percentage is becoming fewer and fewer with a 21% decrease from 2021.
As for why people don’t want to shop during Black Friday? The large crowds according to 58% of shoppers.
Other top reasons for not participating in Cyber Week 2022 included not liking shopping (20%), not interested in buying anything (19%), not wanting to spend money (13%), and believing there are no good deals this year (12%).
Demographic breakdowns
- Not liking large crowds was the reason people will not shop during Cyber Week across all demographics
- Millennials/Gen Y/Gen Z were more likely to report they don’t like shopping (26%)
- Gen X was more likely to report that there are no good deals (21%)
About the survey
Survey Methodology
- The survey received 1,177 responses
- Fieldwork was conducted with adult residents (18 years or older) throughout the United States
- Fieldwork for the survey began on October 7th and lasted united October 17th, 2022
Respondent Profile (By Gender)
- 29% of respondents were male
- 70% of respondents were female
- 1% of respondents were nonbinary
Respondent Profile (By Age)
- 4% of respondents were Generation Z
- 29% of respondents were Millennials
- 34% of respondents were Generation X
- 30% of respondents were Baby Boomers
- 3% of respondents were Silent Generation
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Emily Rodgers
A SUNY Cortland graduate, Emily has taken her passion for social and content marketing to Drive Research as the Marketing Manager. She has earned certificates for both Google Analytics and Google AdWords.
Learn more about Emily, here.
