Black Friday shoppers go mobile—and local

This year’s shopping holiday garnered significant attention for brands. Many saw increases in digital engagement as well as in-store sales. Here’s a roundup of notable offerings.

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For many brand managers, the day after Thanksgiving isn’t the nightmare you expect.

Although there are tales of long lines and greedy shoppers, this year’s Black Friday outcome exceeded many marketers’ expectations.

Data from Google suggest Black Friday 2016 had the highest mobile shopping searches of any day during Thanksgiving week. Additionally, data “measured over 3 billion store visits” worldwide.

Here’s how those numbers are related, from Google:

Shoppers across the U.S. turned to mobile to not only find the best deals online but also to discover the best deals in-store: Rhode Island and Delaware had the most local shopping search interest (searches that contained “near me,” hours and stores) of any states in the nation.

Venture Beat adds:

Black Friday data suggests that in-store visits jumped by 65 percent compared to the average for a November weekend day, with shoppers also spending more time in stores. Electronic outlets, in particular, saw triple the foot traffic on Black Friday.

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