Half The Nation To Shop This Weekend: Deloitte

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 11/22/2011

New York - Fully 51 percent of consumers plan to hit the stores and e-commerce sites this holiday weekend, where they will spend an average of $224 per shopper.

But according to a pre-Thanksgiving survey of 1,000 consumers, conducted Nov.17-19 by the financial services firm Deloitte, another 39 percent said they are likely to make their purchases later in the holiday season because they anticipate better promotions.

Of those shopping this weekend, 66 percent plan to visit brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday, 23 percent plan to be there by midnight, and 17 percent said they will shop in stores on Thanksgiving.

For the stay-at-home or mobile crowd, 50 percent plan to shop online on Black Friday, 41 percent said they will shop online on Cyber Monday, and another 26 percent plan to shop online on Thanksgiving.

Of those who chose e-tail over retail, 44 percent believe they find comparable deals online and in stores over Black Friday weekend, and 52 percent said they want to avoid crowds.

Sixty-nine percent of weekend shoppers said they will search out information on Black Friday sales. Of those, 36 percent said will scour newspaper circulars and 33 percent will visit Black Friday websites.

So far shoppers have completed less than one-quarter (23 percent) of their gift shopping to date, and only 26 percent of their purchases were on sale or made with a coupon, the survey showed.