Black Friday overhauled by the coronavirus pandemic
The turkey isn’t even in the oven, but the holiday shopping season has begun.
The day after Thanksgiving once marked the beginning of the holiday shopping season. But like everything else in 2020, Black Friday has been overhauled by the coronavirus pandemic.
This year, major retailers that were once known for opening Thanksgiving Day with doorbuster sales will remain closed on the holiday. Stores have pushed back opening times. Many sales launched online days or weeks in advance. The urgency to be first in line has faded.
Retailers have been promoting sales and holiday gift ideas for weeks. And shoppers have responded.
More than 40% of shoppers said that they started buying gifts earlier than they normally do, according to an annual survey from the National Retail Federation
and Prosper Insights & Analytics. By early November, nearly 60% of holiday shoppers had started making purchases in the survey.
Milwaukee-area malls and shopping centers would typically be preparing for customers to line up and storm the doors. In the COVID-19 era, expect masks, distanced lines with floor
markers every six feet, plexiglass and hand sanitizer.
“We are doing everything we can in order to spread holiday joy and cheer in our community this year within the limits that we are all following because of COVID,” said Brookfield Square Marketing Director Melissa Cavanagh.
No close-up with Santa, no carolers
It can’t all be the same. Santa will arrive at the mall on Friday, but the experience will be contactless — no one gets within six feet of St. Nick. A virtual visit is also available. Live music will be performed but only with percussion instruments — no carolers.
While Milwaukee-area malls and shopping centers aren’t anticipating the same bustling crowds on Black Friday, they anticipate more shoppers than during the pandemic so far. The operators believe that since the shopping season started earlier, customers will be more spread out rather than rushing in.
Stores that will be dark on Thanksgiving Day include Target, Walmart, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Menards and Fleet Farm. REI is closed both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.
Walmart’s Black Friday 5 a.m. instore deals, for example, will be released online in two bursts, at 6 p.m. Wednesday and 11 p.m. Thursday.
Some stores, including Target, started Black Friday online promotions in October.
Best Buy’s current slogan is “This year, we’re doing Black Friday all season long.” Most of its deals are found both online and in-store.
Kohl’s began its “Black Friday Week” on Sunday both in stores and online. The Menomonee Falls-based retailer is focusing on products that have sold well during the pandemic like home goods, activewear and toys.
Menards will run its Black Friday deals for 10 days starting Friday in an effort to space out the crowds in its stores.
The retailers are anticipating that shoppers will arrive more prepared to avoid spending unnecessary time at the mall.
“Given the pandemic, there is uncertainty about consumers’ willingness to spend, but with the economy improving most have the ability to spend,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz in a news release. “Consumers have experienced a difficult year but will likely spend more than anyone would have expected just a few months ago.
Some will shop in a single trip
The economic downturn during the coronavirus pandemic has barely affected the financial life of many office workers while cutting off wages for many, especially those who work in the service sector. Nearly one in three people reported in a survey that they will forgo holiday gifts this year because of the pandemic, according to a national survey conducted by WalletHub in October.
“After all they’ve been through, we think there’s going to be a psychological factor that they owe it to themselves and their families to have a better-thannormal holiday,” Kleinhenz said. “There are risks to the economy if the virus continues to spread, but as long as consumers remain confident and upbeat, they will spend for the holiday season.”
The Corners of Brookfield is expecting customers to shop just once during the holiday season, rather than coming back multiple times, said Director of Marketing and Events Chelsea Roessler.
The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales will be higher than last year. The retail trade association expects holiday sales during November and December will increase between 3.6% and 5.2%. Over the past five years, holiday sales have on average increased by 3.5%, according to NRF.
The last two months of the year are typically when retailers make a large portion of their annual sales, making the holiday shopping season particularly critical in times of economic turmoil.
The biggest growth is expected in online and non-store sales, according to
NRF. Retailers are responding with increased options.
Hundreds of personal shoppers
Walmart, for example, is more than doubling the number of personal shoppers to fulfill online orders this holiday season. The retail giant will have more than 600 personal shoppers just in Wisconsin, Walmart said in a news release.
Shopping center operators that historically viewed online ordering as a competitor are now promoting curbside pickup and other options.
The Corners added 25 dedicated curbside pickup parking spots to facilitate quick trips.
“If we need to add 25 more (parking spots), we can do that in a day,” Roessler said. “If we have other restrictions for in-store occupancy then we’ll bump that up even more. It is a day-today re-evaluation of what stores need.”
Nearly two dozen retailers at Mayfair mall in Wauwatosa are offering curbside pickup during operating hours. The mall also launched a new virtual line system called Spot Holder for in-person shopping at stores like Board Game Barrister, Foot Locker and Lush.
Jeanne Beckley is a veteran Black Friday shopper who would normally leave the house at 5 a.m. to get the deals in stores.
“Not this year,” said Beckley, an Appleton resident. “We are not going out on Black Friday at all. If we need things from the big box stores, we are ordering online and doing pickup.”