Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

That frenzied Black Friday crush? Not this year

Published 11/29/2019, 12:56 PM
Updated 11/29/2019, 12:56 PM
That frenzied Black Friday crush? Not this year

That frenzied Black Friday crush? Not this year

By Melissa Fares and Nandita Bose

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The frenzy associated with Black Friday shopping was missing this year as U.S. retailers offered earlier discounts and more consumers shopped online, though spot checks around the country showed traffic picked up after a sluggish morning.

“It’s slow now because we had a big, big rush last night,” said Target electronics salesman Evan Houser, 22, in Chicago.

Black Friday remains important for holiday shopping but its relevance is fading amid early promotions, with six fewer sales days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That has pulled spending forward. More than half of consumers polled by the National Retail Federation (NRF) in the first week of November had begun making purchases.

"We've seen many merchants start their promotions pretty much right after the trick-or-treaters have gone to bed," said Lauren Bitar, head of retail consulting at analytics firm RetailNext.

Visits to retailers showed more shoppers after a sluggish start Friday - but frantic crowds were nowhere to be seen.

"We tend to have more deals in-store so people come in rather than go online ... the only problem today is we didn’t expect how slow it would be," said Mariah Berry, 22, a trainee supervisor at a Chicago Uniqlo.

While store traffic still remains an important indicator, a lot of Black Friday shopping now happens online. Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Analytics, which measures transactions from 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers, estimates $7.5 billion in online sales for Black Friday, up 20.5% year-over-year.

U.S. online sales on Thanksgiving Day jumped 17% to $4.1 billion, according to Salesforce. Global online revenue rose ever faster.

Walmart Inc (N:WMT), Target Corp (N:TGT), Costco Wholesale Corp (O:COST) and Best Buy Co Inc (N:BBY) have bulked up their online presence, deliveries and in-store pickups.

Some shoppers worried that tariffs on Chinese imports would make holiday shopping more expensive, though many large retailers have not raised prices to protect margins.

"There were definitely some concerns about prices due to what we see in the news about the trade war, but I haven't seen the impact yet," said Jay Smith, 28, who was shopping for clothes and toys at a Macy's (N:M) in Pentagon City, Virginia.

To keep foot traffic flowing, retailers at Hudson Yards in New York are offering "doorbuster" deals, said Marie Driscoll, managing director of luxury and fashion at Coresight Research. At Tapestry's (N:TPR) Coach , a $300 handbag was $99 until noon.

Other shoppers were skeptical about how good the deals really are.

"I will come to the mall, look at prices and go back and check them online," said Dick Doyle, 76, who was at a Modell's Sporting Goods in Virginia, while his wife was next door at Nordstrom Rack (N:JWN).

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.