Memorial Day Weekend Shopping Report: Men Expected To Out-Spend Women By 150 Percent

For the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, it’s important to note the majority of shoppers plan to be in-store, looking for deals,” says Vistar CRO Matt Schuster. “Digital out-of-home and mobile advertising are crucial channels for reaching active shoppers.

For much of the U.S., Memorial Day’s three day weekend ushers in the approach of summer-like weather, but it’s also a time when shopping deals attract consumers away from cookouts and traveling. Case in point: about 8 in 10 adults plan to spend an average of $486 over the holiday weekend, according to a report by geospatial marketing platform Vistar Media with location analytics provider MFour.

Put another way, 74 million American shoppers are expected to spend an roughly $36 billion for a 50 percent increase from AAA’s 2016 report, where the average spend was $320 per person.

One of the surprises in Vistar’s and MFour’s analysis is the divergence in shopping intent between men and women. The study showed men plan to spend 150 percent more than women over the course of the weekend ($608 vs. $397).

Part of it is due to the shopping preferences and Memorial Day deals. For example, men are almost twice as likely to make purchases at an electronics store than women are (56 percent vs. 31 percent), while 72 percent of women (vs. 56 percent of men) anticipate shopping at an apparel store over the weekend. Since electronics tend to cost more than clothing, it makes sense that men would therefore be spending 150 percent more on average.

In general, the Memorial Day weekend is also expected to be positive for brick-and-mortar retailers.

Specifically, 7x more consumers plan to shop primarily in-store vs. online, according to the study, which was conducted from April 5 to April 9 with 1,000 respondents surveyed about travel plans, purchase intentions, shopping preferences and customer location affinity.

“The study contains some surprising trends that can help marketers more effectively decide where to put their budget during peak retail opportunities throughout the year,” said Matt Schuster, Chief Revenue Officer of Vistar Media. “For the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, it’s important to note the majority of shoppers plan to be in-store, looking for deals. Digital out-of-home and mobile advertising are crucial channels for reaching active shoppers during key touch points throughout the purchase funnel, while on their path to purchase as well as when they are in-store.”

Some of topline findings in the study also showed:

• 62 percent ranked low cost as having a major impact on where to shop, followed by both convenience of location and sales / promotion at 54 percent.
• As far as where they are most likely to shop, the top destination was Clothing / Accessories (67 percent) followed by department stores (55 percent), electronics (39 percent), home improvement (39 percent) and Home goods / furnishings (36 percent)
• Consumers surveyed reported high visitation rates at gas stations (90 percent), retail stores (86 percent), convenience stores (81 percent), casual dining restaurants (80 percent) and malls (74 percent). Retailers can leverage this audience affinity for certain locations to engage consumers through out-of-home media in the environments where they already spend time, Vistar said