Following the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping bonanza, consumers aren't just wrapping up gifts they bought for other people. Many are unboxing a little something special for themselves.
Fess up, Black Friday shoppers: Did you take advantage of all the good deals over the long Thanksgiving weekend to treat yourself? According to market research firm The NPD Group, 40.9 percent of consumers purchased non-holiday items for themselves over the past few days.
Interestingly, those who picked up tech products were 50 percent more likely than the overall shopping population to buy for themselves, NPD reported. More than 58 percent of tech buyers purchased items for themselves over the holiday weekend.
"It is no surprise that self-gifting is growing in technology, as sales of formerly highly gifted items like point-and-shoot cameras, GPS navigation systems, and MP3 players rapidly decline," Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD, said in a statement. "Consumers were looking for the best deals on big-ticket items that can be enjoyed by their families."
NPD's director of industry analysis, Ben Arnold, said the data indicates that consumers still have a lot of holiday shopping left to do. Overall, consumers planned to complete less than 35 percent of their shopping during the Thanksgiving weekend.
"Black Friday weekend … seems to be getting more popular but for non-gift shopping," Arnold wrote in a blog post.
Those looking to snap up new technologies on Black Friday were out early, and many went to stores prepared. Tech buyers were 80 percent more likely to purchase doorbusters this year than they were last year, NPD said. In addition, almost twice as many tech consumers made doorbuster purchases than the average consumer.
And they didn't just hit the stores without a plan. Seventy-six percent of tech buyers did their research before venturing out over the holiday weekend, compared to 58 percent of all consumers. In addition, 44 percent of those who bought new technologies actually did research on items while they were shopping on Black Friday, versus 24 percent of all shoppers.
"With the increased attention on more expensive products that are more likely to be household items, such large screen TVs and tablets, it's not surprising that research activity is on the rise both before the sale and during the shopping activity itself," Baker said. "The easy availability of shopping apps, pricing comparison sites, and product reviews on a consumer's smartphone makes this a simple activity to accomplish for most consumers."
Those who planned ahead were prepared to lay down some cash, spending up to two times more than those who didn't plan in advance.