US Black Friday online sales rise
• Shoppers at stores offering discounts and free gifts said they were just browsing, reserving their cash for internet purchases
US stores offered deep discounts, entertainment and free gifts to lure bargain hunters on Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday retail season, but some shoppers said that they were just browsing the merchandise, reserving their cash for internet purchases.
Still, a sharp rise in online sales brightened the overall outlook for those traditional retailers that have expanded beyond brick-and-mortar outlets, sending their shares higher in trading the day after Thanksgiving. Stores also had carefully managed inventory, seeking to ward off any post-holiday liquidation that would weigh on profits.
There was little evidence of the delirious shopper frenzy customary of Black Fridays from past years.
Consumers are still expected to spend more overall this holiday season than last, analysts and industry executives said.
Black Friday online sales totalled at least $3bn by Friday night, up 15.6% from a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics.
On Thanksgiving Day, shoppers in the US spent more than $2.87bn online.
Adobe projected internet sales would still reach a record $5bn by the end of the night, with online retailers forecast to rake in an additional $6.6bn on Cyber Monday.
Some chains struggled to keep up, with brief online outages experienced by Lowe’s, H&M and Gap.
Macy’s customers in several states took to social media to complain about the retailer’s credit card processing system.
“The turnout this morning has been relatively slow, but it is still the best we have seen in three years,” Burt Flickinger, MD of Strategic Resources Group, said.
Major retailers generally traded higher on Wall Street.
JC Penney climbed 0.6% and Wal-Mart Stores edged upward. Amazon.com closed up 2.6% at a record high.
The period between the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas can make or break a retailer, accounting for up to 40% of annual revenue.
Macy’s said about 16,000 shoppers had been lined up outside its flagship Herald Square store in Manhattan when doors opened at 5pm on Thursday for its Black Friday eve sale.
Here and there were signs of the pandemonium for which Black Friday was long known. A confrontation between two men in the parking lot of Willowbrook Mall in Houston left one shot and the other stabbed.
The growing online shopping trend has forced the toy chain Toys R Us and apparel retailers True Religion, The Limited, Rue 21 and Payless Shoe Source to file for bankruptcy in 2017.
Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, was crowded. A Macy’s employee there said it had been packed on Thursday.
“They’re all online,” said Sarah Jones, 42, an employee at Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island. “I’ve worked in retail my whole life, trust me.”
THE TURNOUT THIS MORNING HAS BEEN RELATIVELY SLOW, BUT IT IS STILL THE BEST WE HAVE SEEN IN THREE YEARS