The Black Consumer: A Fascinating Look at our spending habits, by the numbers

We’ve all heard about how powerful the black consumer is. Our purchasing power has been growing year over year, and all types of brands are finally waking up to our existence, from makeup to tech companies.

The latest report by Nielsen dissects black consumer habits in detail and we found some fascinating habits among the numbers.

Here are some numbers that caught our attention:

-Although the purchasing power of African Americans has been growing strong, “advertising spend designed to reach Black consumers declined 5 percent between 2017 and 2018.”

-“African-Americans outspend the total market on personal soap and bath needs by nearly 19 percent ($573.6 million).”

-“More than half (52 percent) of African-Americans find in-store shopping relaxing, compared with 26 percent of the total population.”

-“42 percent of Black adults expect brands they purchase to support social causes (16 percent higher than the total population).”

-“African-Americans outpace the general market on Quaker grits ($19 million), Louisiana Fish Fry ($11 million), Glory Greens (frozen and fresh, $9.5 million combined) and Jay’s Potato Chips (nearly $2.7 million).”

-“When shopping, African-Americans are more influenced than the total population by store staff (34 percent more likely), in-store advertising (28 percent more likely) and merchandising (27 percent more likely).”

-African Americans are  “more likely to say they shop at high-end stores including Saks Fifth Avenue (63 percent), Neiman Marcus (45 percent) and Bloomingdales (24 percent).”

Next time you purchase something, reflect on these statistics and see if you fit in anywhere.