The day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, was the official start of holiday shopping and men were the first ones in line. The National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted a survey of 3,090 shoppers between Thursday and Saturday and determined that men outspent women by 38 percent.
Surveys conducted in the past by the NRF show that men usually wait until the last minute to shop. This year, 17 percent of men arrived at stores on Thursday by 4 a.m., as opposed to only 8 percent of women.
“I didn’t want to stand in line in the middle of the night and freeze in the cold just to save a few dollars,” said senior Marisol Rodriguez. “It’s just not worth it.”
On average, men spent $420.37 per sale and women spent $304.30. According to the survey, the majority of men spent their money on electronics. Fifty percent bought electronics, 40 percent bought DVDs, CDs and video games, and the other 10 percent spent their money on miscellaneous items.
“I heard that Best Buy was going to have most of their electronics on sale, so I was in line by 1 a.m.,” said freshman Michael Whitman.
Overall, holiday shopping increased by 8 percent over last year and men continue to outspend women by 7 percent since Black Friday.
