Finance: Black Friday searches reveal a big change this year (BBY, WMT, TGT)

Best Buy is the most searched store "near me" by shoppers this year, knocking Macy's and Home Depot off the list.

• Best Buy, Walmart, and Target are the most popular searches for stores "near me," according to data from Captify.
• Macy's and Home Depot, which made the list last year, were replaced by the big box names.

---

Before heading out to find this Black Friday’s hottest deals, millions of Americans will first whip out their phones and search for stores nearby

Marketing firm Captify analyzed 33 billion searches containing the phrase "near me" to see which stores shoppers were looking for this Black Friday, and the top three results look almost nothing like last year's.

This year, shoppers are searching for Best Buy, Target and Walmart more than any other retailers nearby. Walmart is the only company to remain on the list from last year’s holiday season, with Macy’s and Home Depot falling off the list.

Best Buy saw a 3,042% increase over last year’s searches, Captify says, while Target and Walmart have seen jumps of 975% and 597%, respectively.

Walmart and Target have both invested heavily in online channels, with Walmart’s Jet.com acquisition seen as its biggest move yet to compete with Amazon. Macy’s, on the other hand, has seen three years of slumping sales, with its stock down 39.47% so far this year.

Black Friday is one of the retail segment’s most important shopping days. For the first time ever this year, shoppers are expected to spend more online than in stores. According to a Deloitte survey of 4,000 Americans, Shoppers plan to spend 51% of their holiday shopping budget online, compared to 42% in stores. That’s up from 47% last year.

Shares of Best Buy are up 33.18% so far this year.

Best Buy is the most searched store "near me" by shoppers this year, knocking Macy's and Home Depot off the list. Read Full Story