The Consumer Electronics Association predicts a boatload of people will shop online over Thanksgiving weekend.
To the tune of 103.3 million Americans between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, up 6.1 million shoppers in 2013.
According to a CEA survey, in total, 143 million U.S. consumers plan to shop over the Thanksgiving holiday, with 89 million of those planning to buy consumer electronic devices.
Consumer use of mobile devices to compare prices and features as well as find retailer deals will be key. Three-quarters or 74% of those surveyed expect to use their smartphones, cellphones or tablets while shopping during the weekend.
“Mobile use is strongly influencing the consumer’s shifting shopping patterns around Thanksgiving weekend,” said Shawn DuBravac, chief economist, CEA and author of CEA’s soon-to-be released book, “Digital Destiny: How the New Age of Data Will Transform the Way We Work, Live, and Communicate.”
Among all 89 million U.S. adults, 29% say they’ll search for deals on social media sites, 27% will use apps on their smartphones or tablets and 14% will turn to text notifications.
CEA predicts the top five electronic product categories will be: tablets, televisions, laptops/notebooks, smartphones and video game consoles.
