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The headline on the front page of this morning’s USA Today read, “Men Shop Early in Rush for Bargains.” According to the National Retail Federation, men outspent women by 38% over this holiday weekend, busting open the myth that only women shop on Black Friday weekend.
If you look at the black-and-white facts, men spent an average of $420.37 vs. $304.30 for women.
But it’s those gray areas I wonder about.
- Where did men spend their money? Electronics stores. The combination of new gaming systems, price drops on big ticket items like plasma TVs, and stores opening at midnight with steep, time-limited discounts brought guys out in droves.
- Is this really holiday shopping? All of the TV newscasts I watched over the weekend (including live feeds from Best Buy) exhibited that many men were there to buy for themselves.
- When a man did admit to holiday shopping, he almost always had a woman by his side. He may have made the actual purchase with his credit card, but the female shopping influence was an important contributing factor.
Surveys like this are questionable. For a blurb on CNBC or in USA Today, it’s OK. But extenuating circumstances need to be taken into account as well.
Just a word of warning to those who live and die by surveys like this one… remember to always peek around the corner of facts and figures to see the gray shadow of truth behind them.
Michele Miller is a writer, speaker, and consultant on ways to capture the heart of the female customer. The co-author of The Soccer Mom Myth, she consults with businesses of all sizes across North America
I work at Off 5th, Saks 5th Avenue and on black friday I noticed many men out shopping with their families. Although, I realized men and women both were shopping for themselves most of the time. It is the best day of the year to get amazing savings at any store. Sure, it is to the shoppers advantage to use these great deals throughout the store for holiday gifts but why not spoil yourself a little too.
I’m a college student and I work at Old Navy. On black FridayI too saw many men shopping with their wives and it wasn’t just the wives dragging the husbands behind them, the husbands were shopping for themselves as well. It was different yet somewhat exciting to see men getting out with their wives and enjoying the awesome savings on the biggest shopping day of the year.
I was not working retail on Black Friday, but I was out shopping very early. I did notice a lot of men shopping as well. It a tradition for me to go every year and before I even read this blog I thought the stores had more men buying than normal. They were buying electronics like they were going away forever and I seroiusly doubt that too many of their purchases were for anyone else but themselves. Maybe the men finally figured out why us women love waking up at the crack of dawn to save 15% and wait in line for hours!!!
This is so funny! And all those jokes about women shopping… But jokes aside, I agree with you, Michele. I’ve been involved in (marketing) research before and we need to be very cynical when analyzing the data they put out. There’s usually critical information that they “forget” to mention.
But, this will be a good come back for when our husbands “critique” our shopping habits
Has the Black Friday bug hit men?? I think it could be more accurately described as men being “persuasively influenced” by their female counterparts. My employment at Designer Fragrances, located in the Tanger Outlet Mall, San Marcos, Texas, permitted me to witness firsthand the full-blown madness of Black Friday. While I am sure men braved the crowds alone, the majority I encountered were accompanied by a “significant other” who appeared to be the discerning force behind purchasing decisions. Male customers seemed notably less concerned with sale prices and exceedingly concerned with a speedy sales transaction. Men appeared to be more worried about merely completing their shopping obligations and less with saving money; a viable explanation for the fact that on average men spent $420.37 million while women spent only $304.30 million. In conclusion, I believe as long as retail stores continue to offer extravagantly marketed sales events such as Black Friday, men will be “encouraged” to tag along.
I arrived at Target with my sister at 5am to wait in line. We noticed several women and families but not as many men alone. Though, the men I noticed were after the electronics and new gaming systems. Once the doors opened at 6am, I went straight to the digital cameras and my sister looked at the Ipods. After Target I took my twin brother shopping. He bought almost as much clothing and shoes as me. Usually he would not last an hour shopping, but since he came in town to see me and we had my fathers check book, he took advantage of Black Fridays deals. Plus, I am a Fashion Merchandising major and he trusts my opinion with style. I would say together we spent about $380 on clothing, and that’s not only on a few items, he bought dress shoes, a pair of jeans, a couple dress shirts, regular shirts and I bought boots, jeans, 6 tops, and a sweater. I know how to shop!
I think that men are starting to be apart of Black a lot more than woman lately. I went shopping on BLack Friday this year and did noticed a surprising amount of men out in the malls and other stores. If you think about it thought, men are more bargain shoppers than women because they do not want to spend an incredible amount of money so this does make a lot of sense.
I have noticed more men shopping this year than last year. Men seem to be spending more money than women now!!!
This year I went shopping with my boyfriend before I had to go to work. Usually I am the one that is up at the crack of dawn to hit the local stores for the best bargains. This year that was not the case. He wanted to go stand in line hours before Best Buy opened to get a chance for a Playstation 3….turns out he got one……….$600! I couldn’t believe that he dropped that kind of money on himself, this was a rarity. But apparently after I left him to go to work he spendt another $700 on Christmas gifts. Men are defenatly spending more this year than in years past!
Michelle
A stray thought from your post: in light of the recent study re the increasing percentage of holiday shopping that’s actually gifts for oneself, I wonder who tends to do thaat more – men or women… single or married….will stop there – Kare, SavvyHer.com
This year on Black Friday I noticed a lot more men shopping than usual. For example, I think that my stepdad left the house eariler than my mom and I did. I did notice, however, that majority of the men shopping were shopping eariler not only to catch the sales BUT also to get done before the UT game started @ 11 a.m. I shopped both before and after the game and noticed a huge difference in the amount of men that were shopping after the game.