Global Survey Commissioned by UserTesting Reveals In-Store Black Friday Holiday Shopping is Back and Consumer Expectations Remain High

Shopping in actual stores is en vogue again in North America, with instant gratification a top motivator

UserTesting, a leader in video-based human insight, today announced results from a recent global survey commissioned by UserTesting and conducted by OnePoll. The study revealed that consumers who prefer to shop in-store across the globe do so for a variety of reasons including: instant gratification, better deals, no shipping costs, knowing which items are in stock, and a better overall customer experience.

The past few years of the global pandemic prevented consumers from participating in traditional Black Friday shopping. During this time, retailers found ways to adapt their businesses and create omnichannel shopping experiences like curbside pickup and same day delivery that consumers are now accustomed to. This year, brands have an opportunity to draw more customers to stores with experiential features like smart shopping carts, digital coupon codes, and self checkout. One finding showed that despite inflation, most consumers anticipate spending as much or more than in previous years. This reinforces the longing for pre-pandemic Black Friday in-store shopping experiences with online shopping conveniences.

The survey also revealed that:

• More Americans miss the chaos of in-person Black Friday shopping and twice as many consider it a tradition over consumers from the United Kingdom or Australia.
• Despite inflation, consumers from the United States, Australia, and the UK expect to spend the same or more on holiday shopping this year.

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“The pandemic has certainly made many people nostalgic for the in-person Black Friday experience, but it’s also heightened their expectations”

Highlights from United States

• 63% consider in-store Black Friday shopping a tradition.
• 2 in 5 Americans miss the chaos of in-person Black Friday shopping.
• Despite inflation, 31% plan to spend more money than previous years. 26% plan to spend about the same amount as previously and 40% plan to spend less.
• 42% said in-store Black Friday shopping holds more importance for them than it did before the pandemic.
• 95% plan to participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday events for 2022 with one third planning to shop both online and in-store.
• Despite inflation, nearly one third expect to spend more money on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2022 than in previous years.
• Shopping in actual stores is en vogue again, with instant gratification a top motivator, more so than curbside shopping (46% vs 28%).
• When asked what online shopping features they wished they could bring into a store with them, respondents said they’d like to see where items are located in-store (51%) and use promo codes/digital coupons (47%).
• More Gen Zers than Millennials cited immediate fulfillment as their primary driver to shop these events in person (81% vs 49%).

Highlights from Australia

• 32% consider in-store Black Friday shopping a tradition.
• 1 in 4 admit a part of them miss the chaos of in-person Black Friday shopping each year.
• Despite inflation, 24% plan to spend more money than previous years. 45% plan to spend about the same amount as previously and 25% plan to spend less.
• Of those who plan to spend money on holiday sales this year, 49% plan to spread their holiday shopping out across a longer period of time due to economic uncertainties. 17% don’t.
• Of those who prefer to shop in person:
  • Motivation comes from instant gratification (33%), having better sales or deals in person (26%), having better deals in-store than online (26%), and being able to secure items ahead of time (23%).
  • Respondents claim in-person shopping is better than online holiday shopping because they don’t have to wait for shipping (59%), they can bring items back home with them (58%), and they don’t have to pay for shipping (55%). 47% said deals are better in-person than online.
  • Respondents would like to experience a number of useful features in their shopping this year: self-checkout; in-queue checkout (61%), digital help kiosks/price checking (41%), smart shopping carts to navigate through the aisles and easily find products (39%), QR codes to order inventory, item/s brought to you by sales associates (28%), and smart vending machines (22%).
• When asked what online shopping features they wished they could bring into a store with them, respondents said they’d like to use promo codes/digital coupons (65%), see where items are located in-store (49%), reserve items in their cart (44%), get free shipping or delivery (44%), and contactless checkout/payment (36%).
• 60% of respondents said they prefer having digital or self-checkout when shopping in a store. 16% prefer contactless payment options and 14% like having human-to-human interaction.

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Highlights from United Kingdom

• 28% consider in-store Black Friday shopping a tradition.
• 1 in 5 admit a part of them misses the chaos of in-person Black Friday shopping.
• Despite inflation, 12% plan to spend more money than previous years. 44% plan to spend about the same amount as previously and 37% plan to spend less.
• Of those who plan to spend money on holiday sales this year, 38% plan to spread their holiday shopping out across a longer period of time due to economic uncertainties. 27% don’t.
• Of those who prefer to shop in-person:
  • Respondents claim in-store holiday shopping is better than online because: things are either in stock or out of stock so they aren’t worrying about backordered items (34%); they have the ability to get a raincheck for items if they are out of stock (27%); and they don’t have to deal with items being immediately out of stock (26%). 26% of people also felt online shopping didn’t feel like “real” shopping.
  • Respondents would like to experience a number of useful additions to their shopping experience this year: smart shopping carts to navigate through the aisles and easily find products (37%), digital personal assistant/sales associate/robot (34%), QR codes to order inventory, item/s brought to you by sales associates (32%), self-checkout; in-queue checkout (31%), and digital help kiosks/price checking (29%).
• When asked what online shopping features they wished they could bring into a store with them, respondents said they’d like to have free shipping or delivery (41%), using promo codes/digital coupons (40%), being able to see where items are located in-store (34%), being able to reserve items in your cart (32%), and contactless checkout/payment (21%).
• 33% of respondents said they prefer having digital or self-checkout when shopping in a store. 23% prefer contactless payment options and 20% like having human-to-human interaction.

“The pandemic has certainly made many people nostalgic for the in-person Black Friday experience, but it’s also heightened their expectations,” said Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting. “Our research shows half of consumers who plan to shop in stores for this year’s Black Friday events would like smart shopping carts to navigate through the aisles and easily find products—underscoring the demand for retailers to provide customers with an effortless shopping journey.”