Report: Black Friday sales to hit $6.4B
Bargain hunters come out in droves
Bay State shoppers braved cold and long lines to snap up Black Friday’s big ticket items yesterday.
Adobe Analytics, which tracks online retail spending, reported that as of 10 a.m. yesterday, online consumers had already spent $643 million. Online spending is on track to hit $6.4 billion on Black Friday, Adobe predicts.
At the Macy’s in Downtown Crossing, shopper Paul Robinson walked out of the store with a new suit jacket that he called “a great deal. I saved at least a hundred dollars.”
Stephanie Martinez came out of Primark with five full bags.
“I got my cousins gifts for Christmas,” she said, adding that she picked up deep discounts on clothing and fashion accessories.
A new pop-up store, Downtown Holiday Market, opened yesterday on Washington Street across from Macy’s. City Councilors Annissa Essaibi-George and Ed Flynn were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“It’s exciting that you can go to big-box retailers that exist here in Downtown Crossing and support locally owned businesses,” Essaibi- George told the Herald, adding that she purchased some jewelry, artwork and crafts from the marketplace vendors.
The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, is expecting holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — to increase by as much as 4.8 percent over 2017 for a total of $720.89 billion. The sales growth marks a slowdown from last year’s 5.3 percent, for $687.87 billion, which was the largest gain since 2010. But the figure is still healthy.
Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said major consumer gift purchases this year will include gift cards, clothing and accessories, books, music and movies, consumer electronics, toys, jewelry, home decor and improvement items.
Historically, the holiday season represents on average 20 percent of annual retail sales, according to the NRF.
The retail economy also is tilting steeply toward online shopping. Over the past 12 months, purchases at nonstore retailers such as Amazon have jumped 12.1 percent. Meanwhile, sales at traditional department stores have slumped 0.3 percent.