A media buyer’s primer on Black Friday

Black Friday is the most-hyped retail holiday of the year, with shoppers spending $11.2 billion in in-store sales and another $1 billion online last year.

And this year sales are expected to go up, after a 1.8 percent decline in Black Friday spending last year.

Last year’s dip was largely because stores opened on Thanksgiving night for the first time and shoppers spent money they usually would have spent on Black Friday, the day after.

This year, Black Friday will face more favorable comparisons as the second year in which major retailers including Walmart, Target and Macy’s will be open on Thanksgiving.

As the holiday shopping season approaches, Media Life takes a look at everything media buyers and planners need to know about Black Friday, when so many of their clients will be advertising.

Ninety-seven million people are expected to hit stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

There will be 20 percent more Black Friday shoppers this year, according to America’s Research Group, a consumer spending tracking group.

IBISWorld, a market research firm, forecasts that Black Friday spending will rise 3.9 percent this year, to $13.6 billion.

Nielsen predicts that 13 percent of all holiday shoppers will shop on Black Friday, and 51 percent of them will be shopping online.

Electronics will be the most in-demand items on Black Friday, with 70 percent of likely shoppers saying they are interested in buying phones, computers, laptops, DVD players, TVs, iPads or e-readers.

Online sales have soared on Black Friday the past few years. Web spending last year was 70 times what it was in 2007, according to ShopAtHome.com.

The site found that residents of Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon spent the most per capita online during Black Friday last year, while residents of Hawaii, New Mexico and Oklahoma spent the least.

Adobe predicts that online spending will be $1.628 billion on Black Friday this year, up 17 percent over last year and behind only Cyber Monday this holiday season.

Last year was the first that shoppers surpassed $1 billion in online sales on Black Friday.

While print advertising generally has taken a hit from the stampede to digital in recent years, most people still turn to newspapers first to look for deals. NRF found that 67 percent of those looking for bargains turn to newspaper inserts.

A third subscribe to emails from their favorite retailers, while 27 percent go directly to the stores’ web sites and 22 percent go to third-party couponing sites.

On television, many advertisers have been promoting their Black Friday deals for weeks. Last year during the 18 days leading up to Black Friday, 95 percent of TV ads for HHGregg were related to Black Friday sales, according to Kantar Media. Target focused 67 percent of its ads on Black Friday and Walmart 45 percent.

Shoppers are looking for major deals from these advertisements. A third say they will only buy if stores are offering discounts of at least 40 to 50 percent, according to a study by America’s Research Group and Inmar, which operates a string of commerce sites.

Perhaps most mind-blowing at all, more than a week ahead of Black Friday, some folks are already lining up to ensure they get the deals first.

Cleveland’s Fox affiliate reports that several people are already camping out outside the Best Buy in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in anticipation of Black Friday.

Tags: black friday, black friday sales, black friday statistics, media buyers, media buyers primer, media planners