What Do People Really Want on Sale This Black Friday? (2026 Survey)

There’s usually something tempting in a Black Friday sale. Whether it’s something useful is another question. A discounted television might catch your eye, but if you could choose where that saving went, would you put it toward the TV or next week’s grocery shopping?

We surveyed 3,061 people about the Black Friday bargains they wish existed, alongside their shopping plans, gift preferences, and experiences with discount codes.

Groceries topped the wish list, followed by rent or mortgage payments and electricity or heating bills.

The results offer a look at the expenses people would most like some relief from, even when those expenses rarely feature in a Black Friday promotion.

The Black Friday wish list: top 15

Asked which single expense they would choose to get 50% off for a month this Black Friday, respondents ranked them as follows:

1. Groceries
2. Rent or mortgage payments
3. Electricity or heating bills
4. Gas for your vehicle
5. Credit card payments
6. Car loan or lease payments
7. Health insurance premiums
8. Dental treatment
9. Car insurance
10. Internet and cell phone bills
11. Veterinary bills
12. Student loan payments
13. Water bills
14. Childcare
15. Prescription medications

Key findings

The bills between shopping trips

What stands out about the top choices is how regularly they come around. Groceries, housing, heating, gas, and credit card payments occupied the first five places. These are expenses people have to keep finding room for. Getting a good deal on a one-off purchase is satisfying, but it doesn’t do much about the bills waiting the following month.

Several choices also involve paying for something long after the initial decision to buy it. Car loan or lease payments ranked sixth, while student loan payments came twelfth. By the time Black Friday arrives, those payments are already spoken for. Their place on the list suggests that, for some shoppers, the most appealing saving would free up money they never really get to consider spending elsewhere.

Health insurance premiums, dental treatment, veterinary bills, and prescription medications also made the top 15. It would be a stretch to treat every choice as evidence of financial hardship; the survey asked what people would like discounted. Even so, the range of answers shows how much of the wish list sits outside the usual world of seasonal shopping.

A useful gift can still feel generous

Asked about practical holiday gifts, 35% chose a grocery store gift card. It was the leading option presented. That might disappoint anyone hoping to surprise a loved one with something unusual, but there’s a straightforward appeal: the recipient gets to choose what they need, and a shopping trip they were going to make anyway costs them less.

Other respondents preferred help with rent or a mortgage, at 14%, or a contribution toward debt, at 12%. A tank of gas or gas station gift card attracted 11%, while 10% chose someone covering a utility bill. For these respondents, help with an ordinary expense would be a welcome gift in its own right.

Of course, those findings don’t mean everyone wants a bill paid instead of a present. They do give gift buyers a reason to ask. Something that feels too practical to the person giving it may be exactly what the other person would appreciate.

The wish list and the shopping basket serve different purposes

Clothing, shoes, and accessories led expected Black Friday purchases at 17%, followed by electronics and gadgets at 15%. Groceries and household essentials came next at 12%. So, although everyday expenses dominated the imagined discounts, more familiar sale purchases still led people’s actual plans.

That difference makes sense. The first question asked which single expense people would choose to get 50% off for a month, from a list of household costs. Their shopping plans have to work with what they expect to find on sale. Someone can wish their mortgage payment were cheaper and still be planning to buy a coat in November.

Clothing also topped the separate question about everyday products people wanted discounted, at 23%, with underwear and socks included in that category. It’s a reminder that “clothing shopping” covers a lot of ground. Replacing worn-out basics and buying an outfit for a party can end up under the same survey answer.

A saving has to work in actual dollars

When deciding whether an offer was worth buying, 30% prioritized a final price that fit their budget. That was ahead of getting a lower price than before the sale or the lowest price across retailers, each selected by 20%.

There’s a useful distinction here. A product can be heavily discounted and still cost more than someone can afford. For the group focused on their budget, the amount due at checkout matters more than how impressive the reduction looks.

Another 13% prioritized an offer on something they already planned to buy. Alongside the budget finding, that gives retailers a fairly practical message: shoppers may arrive with both a purchase and a spending limit in mind. A promotion has to fit those plans to be useful.

Some of the shopping has already been put on hold

Electronics and gadgets were the most common purchases respondents had delayed ahead of Black Friday, at 18%, followed by clothing, shoes, and accessories at 12%. Some shoppers will therefore enter the sales with a specific purchase already waiting.

Waiting creates its own expectations. If you have put off replacing a device or buying clothes, you want the eventual price to justify the delay. Yet 24% said they had not postponed any purchases in anticipation of Black Friday, so this isn’t how everyone approaches the event.

Discounts are also built into many respondents’ holiday plans. More than half (55%) said all or most of their gift shopping would depend on sales or special offers. For those shoppers, finding reduced prices is part of making the gift budget work.

Checkout is where an offer has to prove itself

A failed promo code can undo the appeal of a purchase quite quickly. In the survey, 65% said they had abandoned an online purchase because a code didn’t work, including 45% who had done so more than once. Asked how often codes fail at checkout, 63% said at least sometimes, and 30% said often or always. These were reported experiences with online purchases generally, rather than a measure of this year’s Black Friday sales.

The findings don’t establish why those codes failed. Expiry dates, exclusions, and minimum spends are all details shoppers need to check, but the survey doesn’t tell us which caused the reported problems. What it does show is that an unsuccessful code can be enough for someone to leave their basket behind.

Trust in Black Friday pricing was also qualified. The largest group, 46%, trusted the discounts only somewhat. That leaves retailers with something to prove: shoppers need to be able to understand the savings and actually receive them.

Final thoughts

One in three respondents wanted to finish Black Friday having bought everything they needed for the holidays without going into debt. Another 15% wanted to complete their gift shopping with money left over. Both are fairly modest ambitions for an event that encourages people to keep adding to their baskets.

The findings leave room for treats, gifts, and purchases people have wanted for a while. But groceries at the top of the wish list and grocery gift cards leading the practical gift choices give this year’s results a distinctly everyday feel. For many respondents, a successful sale would help them pay for the life they already have.

Full results