Black Friday Forecast

WHAT TO EXPECT--To get a better idea of how and when consumers plan to shop this holiday season and on Cyber Week, BlackFriday.com surveyed over 1,500 Americans to find out the biggest trends.

Nationwide, most shoppers will get started on gift-buying in early November (but men are more likely to wait until December). The average shopper also plans to spend at least $625 on gifts. And, if shoppers plan on buying someone a gift card, they better make it an Amazon one.  

See below for California's holiday season shopping trends:

• 37% of consumers are planning to spend less than $400 but 23% are planning to spend between $800 and $1,200.
• 25% of California consumers are planning to start their holiday shopping in early November.

For Cyber Week:

• On Black Friday, 52% said they won't spend any money.
• On Cyber Monday, 52% are planning to spend less than $400.
• Fun fact: 19% of California consumers are planning to shop Cyber Monday deals on their work hours.

If you’d like to get more nationwide data, head to our Holiday Shopping and Spending Survey Data blog post to get the full breakdown of national shopping trends by demographic, as well as coupon usage throughout the holiday season and much more.

Our experts have also predicted the best sales of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and even compared the two holidays so your readers can know what to buy when.

Let me know if you have any questions on our data and predictions, any interview requests or if you would like to talk more about holiday shopping trends in your state. I am here for any holiday shopping needs you might have this season!

(Jessica Dupras is a shopping expert.)

-cw