How Consumers Could Spend on Black Friday

• Despite pressures like inflation, consumers still plan to spend on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 
• Driving sales are younger consumers — 86% of Gen Z and 89% of millennials plan to shop, according to Deloitte. 
• Web traffic data analyzed by Taboola indicates customers are poised to spend on things like athleisure and smart TVs. 

Despite economic pressures like inflation facing consumers, recent data indicates shoppers still plan to spend on Black Friday. 

According to the consulting firm Deloitte, consumers in the U.S. are expected to spend around $500 on average on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, up 12% from spending in 2021. According to Deloitte, more consumers are also planning to participate in the shopping holidays with 80% planning to shop over the weekend compared to 71% last year. 

The numbers put Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping plans on par with their pre-pandemic shopping levels, according to Deloitte, which found that younger consumers — Generation Z and millennials — were driving the increase. According to its data, collected during an October survey, 86% of Gen Z plan to shop over the weekend while 89% of millennials plan to shop. 

According to the digital advertising agency Taboola, which also operates the e-commerce content monetization platform Skimlinks, readership data from web traffic pulled in mid-October could provide insights about how consumers plan to spend their money this year.

Taboola said it expected the athleisure category would perform well during Black Friday, citing a 2,252% increase over a 45-day period in readership for articles mentioning sports bras and a 140% increase in readership in articles that mentioned leggings. Taboola said it expected Lululemon, which was one of the top-performing athleisure brands last year, to continue to perform well this holiday season. 

Readership data across Taboola and Skimlinks’ platforms indicated a 15% increase in interest for articles that mentioned air fryers over the 45-day period, a 160% increase for articles mentioning vacuums, a 320% increase for articles mentioning mixers and a 575% increase for articles mentioning computers.

Taboola also saw an increase in readership in articles that mentioned refrigerators, coffee makers and crockpots. Shoppers also appear poised to make consumer electronics purchases, especially Amazon Fire TVs, which saw a 781% increase in readership over the last 45 days. Amazon’s Kindle saw a 96% increase, while Apple’s AirPods saw a 21% increase in readership, over the period, according to Taboola.

Taboola also analyzed data from Amazon’s 48-hour shopping holiday held in October, which was the first time the retailer offered a second Prime shopping holiday in a single year in addition to its annual Prime Day. The most popular products sold during the Oct. 11-12 shopping holiday included air fryers, recliners, Apple TVs, vacuums, laptops and electric mixers, which may also indicate what shoppers will gravitate toward on Black Friday.