60% of bargain hunters believe Black Friday is the best time to shop

Daily deals website reveals Black Friday shopping habits of deal hunters

ATLANTA — According to a new survey by daily deal website Clark Deals, a majority of people (60%) are waiting until the Black Friday shopping season to score bargains on holiday gifts. However, nearly 27% of deal hunters have already started their holiday shopping. 

“This survey reveals that Americans still believe Black Friday is the best time to find great bargains,” says Charis Brown, Managing Editor of ClarkDeals.com. “At Clark Deals, we agree because we see a significant increase in deals from Thanksgiving into Black Friday every year.”

With more than a quarter of deal hunters looking to score bargains early, money expert Clark Howard says that Black Friday is definitely not a day anymore, but it is more of a season, and to look for in-store sales as well as online deals. 

“This year, there’s an 11-day window between November 22 and December 2 for Black Friday deals,” consumer expert Clark Howard says. “The biggest change for Black Friday is it didn’t work for anyone when the deals were so heavily concentrated in the wee hours of the morning until about noon. Since around 2015, the trend started spreading out the shopping and online has played a role. ” 

Additional insights from the survey include:

• 81% of deal hunters are planning to shop both in-store and online, while 12% of shoppers plan to shop exclusively online. 
• Nearly 40% of deal hunters said they would NOT give gift cards this holiday season. As an alternative, Clark recommends giving cash because if a crook steals the code on a gift card, you have no way of getting the money back.

No matter when or where you’re shopping, Clark says he wants people to steer clear of buying something just because it’s a great deal. 

“My most important advice to you about this is don’t get caught up in the frenzy and buy things you don’t really need on Amazon, any other website, or a physical store. I don’t want you to help their stockholders, I want you to help yourself. Set a strict overall budget, and keep track of your spending so that your wallet doesn’t hate you in January,” he says.

To be notified of the best daily deals, sign up for our newsletter at ClarkDeals.com/newsletter!

Methodology

Clark Deals surveyed 1,238 newsletter subscribers asking questions about their holiday shopping habits. This survey had a confidence level of 99% and a 4% margin of error. 

About Clark Deals

Clark Deals is a daily deals website dedicated to finding the best deals around the web from reputable retailers. Our deals experts search the internet every day to cut through the clutter and identify truly great deals. Founded by nationally-syndicated radio host and best-selling author Clark Howard, Clark Deals is a free resource committed to helping consumers save more and spend less. Find the best deals on ClarkDeals.com!

About Clark Howard

Money expert Clark Howard is dedicated to empowering people to take control of their finances by providing money-saving tips, consumer advice, hot deals, and economic news so everyone achieves financial freedom. Under this mission, Clark spearheads two free resources — Clark.com and ClarkDeals.com — to encourage consumers to save more, spend less and avoid ripoffs. Clark hosts a nationally syndicated radio talk show, a prominent podcast and provides advice on television stations around the country. In 1993, he opened the Consumer Action Center helpline — 404-892-8227 — to provide the community with free advice and education to resolve money problems.

Clark Howard media contacts

Sally McDonald, [email protected]

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