There's Been A Big Shift In Black Friday Demographics
The stereotypical Black Friday shoppers are parents who go out with a mission to get their offspring the season's hottest toys.
But the demographic of the shopping holiday has changed greatly to include "packs of teens and young adults," report Frank Kummer and Matt Katz of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The two went to local malls and noticed that teens were out shopping in big groups. The young shoppers appeared to be socializing instead of on a mission.
"Packs of teens, or young adults, hunted gifts with not an adult in sight. Some young women were dressed with makeup as if heading out for dates," the Inquirer wrote.
This year's Black Friday shoppers tend to be young according to a Gallup poll. Because this is the first poll Gallup has done, there weren't statistics about the demographics in years past.
"More than a third of those aged 18 to 29 report they will be taking advantage of the sales and price discounts," the agency said in a report. "Black Friday shopping intentions drop off as age increases, falling to 8 percent for those 65 and older."
There could be a couple of reasons for the shift in demographics, according to the report.
One possibility is that major retailers including Target, Walmart and Best Buy open on Thanksgiving night, meaning that more teens are awake when doors open.
Abercrombie & Fitch ramped up its Black Friday promotions this year to meet the demand and was a "clear teen winner," said Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray Carret & Co.
This year, "the teen driven stores were the ones driving traffic at the mall," Beder said. "Many non-teen focused chains like Coach, Anthropologie and Ann Taylor were not even open."
Kummer and Katz also speculated that Black Friday has become "such a marathon" that only young people have the "stamina" to make it to the sales with no sleep.
We observed the teen trend at Best Buy where three boys had started a tent city in the days leading up to Black Friday.
DON'T MISS: Photos Of Black Friday Hysteria Around The Country >
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