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Black Friday Week Could Be A Record-Setter For Tech: CTA

More Americans than ever plan to buy tech products during Black Friday week, setting the stage for what could be a record-setting Thanksgiving cycle, a new survey shows.

The poll, commissioned by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and fielded after the presidential election, also found that the outcome of the race will not significantly delay holiday purchase plans, with only 12 percent of respondents opting to shop later this season because of the campaign.

In total, a record 180 million U.S. adults are expected to shop during Black Friday week, of which 116 million, or 47 percent of the adult population, plan to purchase tech or tech accessories, the poll showed.

“By all accounts, the 2016 Black Friday week looks like it will be a record breaker for tech,” said CTA chief economist Shawn DuBravac. “Even with delayed promotions from retailers and manufacturers, and signs of pre-election uncertainty, we expect consumer enthusiasm for technology purchases during the holidays to be higher than ever.”

Respondents’ top tech picks included:

1. TVs
2. laptop computers
3. smartphones
4. videogame consoles
5. tablets
6. headphones
7. accessories
8. DVD or Blu-ray Disc players
9. digital cameras
10. wearables

But outside of the tech perennials, “expect to see front-page circular deals from a variety of retailers on emerging products including drones, virtual reality and digital assistant devices such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home,” DuBravac said. “On average, half of the unit volume of newer, emerging categories sells in the fourth quarter alone — a promising indicator for these new and innovative products.”

The survey also indicated that 46 percent of U.S. adults — 114 million people — plan to shop online next week, and notably, over two thirds (70 percent of online shoppers) plan to use mobile devices.

Nevertheless, most Black Friday week shoppers still plan to visit a physical store (54 percent), CTA said.

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