With retailers announcing they'll be closed on Thanksgiving and will be stretching out their Black Friday sales for as long as two months, a Black Friday tradition hangs in the balance: doorbusters. An important part of Black Friday hype and headlines, doorbusters are generally super-low-priced items offered in limited supply. They're the products shoppers run through the store to grab the moment the doors open -- and the ones that cause fights to break out in the aisles.
Precisely none of that fits with a pandemic year. However, based on the surveys we've performed this year, we predict a new trend will emerge in 2020: the curb buster.
While consumers will be shopping largely online this year (instead of attending in-store events), they may not want to wait for shipping. Selecting curbside pickup, therefore, will help shoppers get the hottest items in their hands immediately. It's the (almost) instant gratification of buying a doorbuster item, without the need to race through the aisles. So, on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season, we expect cars to be lining up for curbside pickup, mimicking the long lines of Black Fridays past. In fact, it was this visual that led one of our writers, Steven Abrams, to first coin the term "curb buster."
We've performed two holiday surveys so far this year -- one via Google Surveys and one via SurveyGizmo (see methodology below). Both indicate that curbside pickup is taking off amid pandemic concerns. Here are the results that show how holiday season 2020 will be the year of the curb buster:
Almost half of shoppers still don't feel safe shopping in stores
According to our Google Survey, 46% of shoppers say they don't feel safe shopping in stores for the holidays. Our SurveyGizmo poll, meanwhile, asked shoppers about their biggest holiday stressors. Thirty-seven percent said crowds in stores were their biggest concern, and 33% cited in-store safety and sanitary concerns.
At the same time, 32% of shoppers in our SurveyGizmo poll said shipping and delivery delays were their biggest holiday stressors.
Curbside pickup, therefore, is likely to become the happy medium between the aversion to going into a store and the aversion to waiting for shipping. Shoppers can shop and check out online -- but can get their items as soon as the same day.
Most shoppers don't want traditional doorbusters this year
Most shoppers from our Google Survey either want stores to stay closed or to remain open without offering doorbusters on Black Friday this year:
But there's still that 30% that's eager for doorbusters. Curbside pickup could give them a safer option. Limited pickup time slots per day could also appeal to the competitive early-bird nature of the doorbuster enthusiast.
Half of shoppers plan to use curbside pickup more this season
Curbside pickup has been offered by major retailers (Walmart and Target were the main pioneers) for several years now. But the pandemic seems to have given it a boost, with additional retailers, including Kohls, rolling it out. In our Google Survey, 50% of those who said they planned to shop holiday sales this year say they plan to use curbside pickup more than they did in 2019. That could mean bumper-to-bumper curbside traffic and slim pickings for ideal pickup time slots.
Shoppers say curbside pickup is their most-desired "new" shopping method this season
Not knowing what Black Friday will look like this year, we asked shoppers in our SurveyGizmo poll which innovative options they'd like to see retailers offer. While plenty of consumers said they'd like to see things like the ability to register for a time slot to shop in a store, the ability to shop under tents in a parking lot or even a lottery system for winning a crowd-free shopping trip, curbside pickup was the clear winner. Forty-two percent of survey respondents said that curbside pickup options are what they most want from retailers this season.
Shipping delays are likely to push last-minute shopping curbside
With retailers facing supply chain issues and delivery delays, free-shipping cutoffs could be earlier than ever this year. Those shopping at the last minute might find curbside pickup extra compelling, especially if they don't want to enter stores filled with everyone else who waited until the last minute.
Will curb busters go from trend to tradition?
Curbside pickup presents a challenge to retailers. It's work intensive, as it requires store employees to pull items and bring them to shoppers' cars. It's also a logistical nightmare for stores that don't have large parking lots.
But this season could give consumers a taste of extra convenience. If the desire to stay in one's warm car becomes more appealing than queueing up on Black Friday or navigating crowded aisles, curb busters could become a Black Friday and holiday fixture.
Survey methodology
Google Survey: Our survey was conducted Aug. 14 to 18 via Google Surveys. We surveyed 4,597 U.S. adults. Most of our insights came from the subgroup of 1,000 who will be shopping sales between September and Cyber Monday (Nov. 30). Read more about Google Surveys methodology.
SurveyGizmo survey: We conducted an online, mobile-enabled, U.S. Census-balanced survey between Aug. 28 and Sept. 1 against the following demographics:
- Age.
- Gender.
- Race/ethnicity.
- Region.
Our insights come from 546 U.S. adults who plan to shop during the holidays.
