- Nearly two-thirds of North Carolinians report having smaller holiday shopping budgets.

- Half of NC residents say they are concerned about shipping delays.

- But the majority of North Carolinians do not report increased stress this holiday season.

High Point, N.C. – A recent High Point University Poll found more North Carolinians plan to shop on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday.

The HPU Survey Research Center asked people in North Carolina about shopping on the Monday after Thanksgiving, known as Cyber Monday, one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. Nearly half (47%) said they personally plan on shopping online the Monday after Thanksgiving. About one-third (31%) said they do not, and nearly one-quarter (23%) said they were unsure.

The poll shows 34% of North Carolinians plan to shop on the Friday after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday. Just over half (51%) polled said they will not shop on Black Friday this year, while 15% are unsure.

This finding is similar to the November 2022 HPU Poll when 28% of people in North Carolina said they would shop on Black Friday, compared to the 52% who said they were not going to shop. Only 19% said they weren’t sure if they were shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving that year.

When asked about choosing between the two, the Friday after Thanksgiving or Cyber Monday, more poll respondents said they would be shopping Cyber Monday (39%), while a smaller percentage (25%) said the Friday after Thanksgiving. About one-quarter (24%) of poll respondents said neither day.

When North Carolinians do shop for the holidays, only 17% plan to do most of their shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, while 30% plan to do most of their shopping online.

An additional 41% of respondents say they will do both equally.

A majority (52%) of N.C. residents say they will start their holiday shopping about the same time as any other year. About one-quarter of (27%) say they will start holiday shopping earlier than usual this year while fewer (15%) say they will start shopping later.  

“It is not surprising that Americans plan on shopping earlier and more online,” said Brandon Dragone, economics instructor. “The move to online shopping has grown consistently, accelerating after COVID-19. With people anticipating challenges in supply chain, another byproduct of our experiences during COVID-19, it is not surprising that consumer’s purchasing habits are moving earlier before the holidays.”

Changes in shopping behavior may be a result of rising costs and shipping delays. A majority (65%) of respondents said their holiday shopping budget has been lessened by inflation and rising costs while about one-quarter (27%) said their budget was not smaller.

Almost one-third (31%) of North Carolinians say they will spend less on the holidays this year, and two in five (42%) say they will spend about the same amount of money on the holidays this year compared to last year. Only about one-quarter (23%) of respondents say they will spend more than last year. When asked how much they plan to spend, the poll found that on average, respondents will spend approximately $858 on gifts, food, decorations and other items related to the holidays.

More than half (51%) of poll respondents said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about shipping delays when it comes to holiday shopping this year. Nearly half (46%) said they are not very concerned or not at all concerned about delays.

“A majority of North Carolinians told us that their holiday shopping budget has been lessened this year,” said Brian McDonald, associate director of the HPU Poll. “About half said that there is concern about shipping delays this holiday season.”

When asked about holiday stress compared to last year, more than half (54%) said their stress levels will be about the same as last year. About one-third (31%) said their holidays will be more stressful than last year, and only 10% said they will be less stressful than last year.

NC residents – Friday After Thanksgiving (November 2023)

As you may know, the Friday after Thanksgiving is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Looking ahead, do you personally plan on shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving, or not?

Yes – 34%

No – 51%

Unsure – 15%

NC residents – Most Holiday Shopping (November 2023)

Do you plan to do most of your holiday shopping in brick-and-mortar stores or online this year?

Brick-and-mortar stores – 17%

Online – 30%

Both equally – 41%

Unsure – 11%

NC residents – Cyber Monday (November 2023)

As you may know, the Monday after Thanksgiving is known as Cyber Monday and one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. Looking ahead, do you personally plan on shopping online during the Monday after Thanksgiving?

Yes – 47%

No – 31%

Unsure – 23%

NC residents – Friday or Monday Shopping (November 2023)

If you had to choose between the two, do you plan to do more shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving or Cyber Monday?

Friday after Thanksgiving – 25%

Cyber Monday – 39%

Neither – 24%

Unsure – 13%

NC residents – Holiday Spending (November 2023)

Thinking ahead to the holiday season, how much do you think that you will spend this year on gifts, food, decorations and other items related to your celebration of the holidays?

Mean (average): $858

*Calculated based on n=960 numeric responses.

NC residents – Holiday Spending (November 2023)

Do you think that you will spend more, less or about the same as last year on gifts, food, decorations and other items related to your celebration of the holidays?

More – 23%

Less – 31%

About the same – 42%

Unsure – 3%

NC residents – Holiday Shopping – Earlier or Later? (November 2023)

Do you think you will start holiday shopping earlier than usual, later than usual, or about the same time as any other year?

Earlier than usual – 27%

Later than usual – 15%

About the same time as any other year – 52%

Unsure – 6%

NC residents – Inflation and the Holidays (November 2023)

Has your holiday shopping budget been lessened at all by inflation and rising costs?

Yes – 65%

No – 27%

Unsure – 8%

NC residents – Shipping Delays (November 2023)

When it comes to holiday shopping this year, how concerned are you about shipping delays? Would you say you are very concerned, somewhat concerned, not very concerned, or not at all concerned about delays?

Very concerned – 17%

Somewhat concerned – 34%

Not very concerned – 32%

Not at all concerned – 14%

Unsure – 4%

NC residents – Holiday Stress (November 2023)

Compared to last year, do you think the holiday season will be more stressful, less stressful or about the same as last year?

More stressful than last year – 31%

About the same as last year – 54%

Less stressful than last year – 10%

Unsure – 5%

HPU Poll 99 was fielded by the High Point University Survey Research Center on Nov. 6 through Nov. 12 as an online survey using a panel of respondents recruited and maintained by Dynata. Dynata sent invitations to its panel of N.C. respondents and the SRC collected 1,010 responses on its Qualtrics platform. The SRC did all data analysis. The online sample is from a panel of respondents, and their participation does not adhere to usual assumptions associated with random selection. Therefore, it is not appropriate to assign a classic margin of sampling error for the results. In this case, the SRC provides a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points to account for a traditional 95% confidence interval for the estimates (plus or minus 3.1 percentage points) and a design effect of 1.2 (based on the weighting). The data is weighted toward population estimates for age, gender, race, ethnicity, and education based on U.S. Census numbers for North Carolina. Factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional errors into the findings of opinion polls. Percentages may not add to 100 because of rounding.

Further results and methodological details from the most recent survey and past surveys can be found at the Survey Research Center website. Materials online include past press releases as well as memos summarizing the findings (including approval ratings) for each poll since 2010.

The HPU Poll reports methodological details in accordance with the standards set out by AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, and the HPU Survey Research Center is a Charter Member of the Initiative.

You can follow the HPU Poll on Twitter.

Dr. Martin Kifer, chair and associate professor of political science, serves as the director of the HPU Poll, and Brian McDonald is the associate director of the HPU Poll.