With so many retailers advertising Black Friday promotions, it appears challenging for any given retailer to stand out from the crowd. Over the past four weeks, only three major retailers have moved the needle significantly in value perception with consumers: Best Buy, Marshall’s and Macy’s. To a smaller extent: Old Navy and Kmart.
Over the last four weeks, no major retailers have made a significant gain in purchase consideration – a measurement which is an indicator of future sales. Coming close were J.C. Penney and Toys “R” Us, which both made improvements, but not large enough to be considered statistically significant.
A snapshot of retailers’ BrandIndex scores in the run up to Black Friday, shows that Amazon has by far and away the best combined purchase consideration and value perception among holiday retailers. Following fairly close behind: Wal-Mart, Target, eBay and Best Buy.
Wal-Mart has the second highest purchase consideration of all major retailers behind Amazon, while Target has the second highest value perception (although significantly behind the e-commerce giant).
The retailers with the lowest combined purchase consideration and value perception scores are: Neiman Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, and Banana Republic.
Representing the average combined purchase consideration and value perception scores: Sears.
YouGov also looked at what consumers intend to purchase this holiday season. The top 5 "must have" categories include consumer electronics at number 1 for the second year in a row, followed by gift certificates, clothing, toys and video games.
And when polled about the ‘must have’ this holiday season, consumers reinforced consumer electronics by naming the iPad most frequently, followed by PlayStation, Kindle, Xbox and iPod.
Top mentioned "must have" gift brands
YouGov BrandIndex measured 18 of the most popular national retail chains as perceived by adults age 18 and over. Each retailer will be charted by combining two of YouGov BrandIndex’s most relevant scores: Purchase Consideration ("When you are in the market next to purchase office supplies, from which of the following brands would you consider purchasing?”) and Value ("Does it give good value for what you pay?").
YouGov BrandIndex’s Value score ranges from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback. The Purchase Consideration scale is from zero to 100%.
YouGov also polled 1,000 U.S. adults 18+ via its daily Omnibus service last week, asking them about their intended holiday purchasing.