The Consumer Technology Association expects 152 million U.S. adults to shop for tech during the Thanksgiving weekend, stretching through Cyber Monday. The figure comes around every November, usually buried in another story about how much Americans are expected to spend. But they also show how quickly people make their tech purchases when those few days roll around.
A huge number of Americans make most of their tech-buying decisions in those few days, rather than spreading them out over the rest of the year.
All of that has nothing to do with when the recipient wants the thing. A watch strap gives out when it gives out. You might replace a bag before heading off on a trip, but earbuds have a habit of giving up at the most random times. None of it is likely to happen just because the last Friday of November has arrived. That five-day window is on appraisers’ calendars, not recipients’.
Why Black Friday compresses tech shopping into five days
The figures came from a survey of 1,201 adults in the US, carried out from 23 October to 3 November. The survey has a 2.8% margin of error. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed, or 65%, said November is when they see the biggest deals of the year.
Just over half of the shoppers surveyed, 51%, were planning to shop on Black Friday. Cyber Monday was close behind at 47%. This year, the two dates sit within a five-day stretch that starts on Thanksgiving, November 26, and finishes with Cyber Monday on November 30. That leaves shoppers with only a few days to make up their minds and get things bought.
Headphones and earbuds were expected to get the most attention during those few days. Phone cases were also high on the list, along with video subscriptions.
Black Friday runs on the buyer’s calendar
For someone who already has most of the usual stuff, another gift is not always going to be useful. A worn-out watch strap might be the thing he actually needs. Or perhaps there is a work trip in December and his old bag is not up to it. His earbuds might have started playing up too. The problem is that none of those needs comes with a calendar reminder saying it is time to buy a replacement.
That is where a five-day shopping rush gets a little awkward. The sale dates are fixed. People’s needs are not.
It works like the calendar version of the retailer-spread problem Gadget Flow’s summer tech rundown covered earlier this year, when three of the season’s most wanted gadgets each lived at a different store. A five-day window squeezes that same spread into one sitting, forcing a guess about category and retailer together.
What survives the deadline
If a gift has to be sent at the last minute, a multi-brand gift card is one of the easier options. There is no parcel to wait for and no need to guess what the other person wants. Send it by email and they can use the money on something they actually need.
That is where gift-card.com’s US storefront comes in. The card is delivered digitally, so there is no shipping deadline to worry about. Someone shopping at 9 p.m. on Cyber Monday can still buy one, send it that night, and have a gift sorted. That is a lot more useful than leaving the shopping until January and handing over a gift receipt.
The amount can also change the feel of the gift. $25 might cover a phone case, charging cable or another small item. $50 or $100 gives someone more room to choose, whether that means putting it toward the headphones they’ve wanted for months or spending it on something compl
The lazy-gift question, answered honestly
A gift card is not automatically a bad present. A lot depends on the amount, the person getting it, and whether they are actually going to use it. Give someone $25 for a store they never visit and it will probably sit in a drawer. Give them $100 for somewhere they already shop, and the same kind of gift makes much more sense.
There is another reason not to treat a November gift card as something that has to be spent straight away. Under the federal CARD Act of 2009, most gift cards have to stay valid for at least five years after activation.
The rules also generally prevent inactivity fees from being charged during the first 12 months. So, for example, a card received in November and used the following March is not suddenly running out of time. Four months have passed, but the card still has years left under the fede
The week that belongs to the buyer
The five-day period from Thanksgiving on November 26 to Cyber Monday on November 30 is when most of these purchases will happen. But the person buying something on one of those days may not be the person using it. That matters with things like watches, bags or earbuds, where the need for a replacement might come weeks or months later.
Someone shopping in the US during those November 26–30 sales dates could also go with a multi-brand card from Gift Card Mall’s US store. There is no need to use it during the Black Friday weekend itself, so the recipient can spend it when they actually need something.
