Most Black Friday Shoppers Buy for Themselves

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A National Retail Federation study says “self-gifting” is at an all-time high…

As a nod to just how much shoppers enjoy taking advantage of retailers’ holiday promotions to treat themselves to something nice, consumers are expected to spend the most on non-gift items in the survey’s 10-year history. Six in 10 shoppers (59.0%) plan to spend an average of $139.92 on “self-gifting” this holiday season.

Seven in 10 (71.5%) young adults ages 18-24, often the ones seen standing in the long lines for retailers’ midnight and early-bird Black Friday promotions, will spend an average of $159.62 – the highest percent of any age group, though not the most amount of money. Adults ages 25-34 will spend the most at $175.65.

“It looks like young adults have the ‘one for you two for me’ mentality about the holiday season this year, which is surprising given that this is also the age group that typically doesn’t have the income or ability to splurge,” said BIGinsight Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow.

The study found lots of other interesting nuggets, including that most people want gift cards, and almost half of Americans started holiday shopping by October. We’ll also spend more on average this year than last.

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