Web sales on Black Friday hit a record

Black Friday online sales hit a record this year as pandemic-wary Americans filled virtual carts instead of real ones.

Consumers spent an estimated $9 billion on U.S. retail websites on Black Friday, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping. Thatwas a 22 percent increase over the previous record of $7.4 billion, set a year ago.

Meanwhile, traffic to brick-andmortar stores plummeted as retailers tried to prevent crowds by cutting their hours and limiting doorbuster deals. U.S. store visits dropped 52 percent on Black Friday, according to Sensormatic Solutions, a retail tracker. Traffic was slower in the Northeast and West than in the Midwest and South, said Brian Field, Sensormatic’s senior director of global retail consulting.

Even with that drop, Black Friday will still likely end up as one of the biggest in-person shopping days in the U.S. this year, Field said. He thinks many people will still shop for the holidays in person but will choose midweek days when crowds are smaller. Heavier instore discounts and concerns about lengthy shipping times could also draw shoppers closer to Christmas.

“Black Friday had a lot to lose, but some of it is going to be distributed throughout the holiday season,” Field said.

One trend that could remain after the pandemic ends is that stores could remain closed on Thanksgiving Day, Field said. Since 2013, a growing number of stores had opened on Thanksgiving to match their competitors and get a jump on Black Friday. But it’s typically not a big day for retailers, and this year many stayed closed. Thanksgiving store traffic was down 95 percent, he said.

Field said stores may be rethinking the cost of paying employees and opening on Thanksgiving when they could easily makeup for those sales online.

“I wonder, now that we’ re seeing a season where they were able to cut the cord onit, if it will give them pause,” he said.

Adobe expects Monday to be the largest online sales day ever in the U.S., with estimated spending between$10.8 billion and$12.7 billion.

One reason for the big numbers is that people are shopping online for things such as groceries and alcohol that they bought in person before the pandemic, Adobe said.