Mindshare: Men Have Fatter Black Friday Wallets

Men will outspend women by nearly 70% on Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday according to a new study from Mindshare.

Men will spend an average $417 during the two big pre-holiday spending periods when marketers entice consumers with major sales events. The study found that women anticipate that they’ll spend an average of $247—nearly 69% less, according to the Mindshare research.

While women seem to be the favored target for advertisers during this shopping weekend, these findings illustrate that both genders are hitting the aisles (and keypads). Men are nearly twice as likely as women to camp outside of stores before they open on Black Friday (56% Vs. 29%), post deals on social media (53% vs. 28%) and share their actual purchases afterwards on social media (52% vs. 28%).

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Men feel they get better deals by hitting the stores in person. Seven in 10 (70%) men compared to 51% of women expect in-store deals to be better than online deals. 

Most men (68%) and women (55%) have budgets that they plan to stick to, with Millennials (76%) as the age group most likely to stick to pre-planned budgets, compared to 59% of shoppers ages 35-54 and 37% from ages 55 and over.

Shoppers have similar wish-lists. Men expect to buy electronics (57%), video games (48%), clothing/fashion (44%) and toys (43%). Women, on the other hand, plan to purchase clothing/fashion (66%), electronics (53%), toys (45%), and home goods (44%). Men, unsurprisingly, are more than three times more likely than women to want to purchase auto/auto parts (22% vs. 6%). 

Black Friday is the time to tackle holiday shopping lists. Two in three men (63%) do their holiday shopping versus 49% of women. Millennials are most likely to do their holiday shopping during the Black Friday weekend (73%), versus 50% for those ages 35-54 and 31% for those ages 55 and up.

The majority of both men and women shoppers (55%) want companies to offer discounts on a wider array of products during Black Friday. Shoppers also want retailers to upgrade the in-store experience, with 50% seeking a way to check if an item is in store before they get there, 47% want longer store hours, 40% want better product placement and signage, and 38% want contests, promotions or sweepstakes. 

“There’s no one silver media bullet for reaching those groups—but ultimately, you start by grounding your commerce strategies in audience data and insights and building off of that," says Joe Migliozzi, Managing Director, Global Head of Shop+ for Mindshare. "The right media plan will leverage those not just from the start, but with adaptive strategies throughout the holidays.”

Shoppers express mixed options when it comes to staying open or closed. While 87% respect companies that are closed on Thanksgiving Day and 59% respect companies that don't participate in Black Friday, another 57% like it when stores are open on or before Thanksgiving so they can shop early.

Mindshare NA surveyed 779 shoppers with research led by the agency's dedicated retail unit Shop+ using Mindshare's research tool The Pool. 

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