CYBER SHOPPERS RULE
More shoppers online to snap up bargains
Early reports for Thanksgiving Black Friday sales showed a record number of US consumers shopping online.
LOS ANGELES: Early reports for Thanksgiving Black Friday sales showed a record number of US consumers using their mobile devices for shopping.
Software firm Adobe, which tracks sales at 4,500 websites, predicted US$1.7 billion would be spent over the 24-hour period.
Target CEO Brian Cornell said he saw “really strong traffic” in stores and expects record-breaking results for online sales.
On Thursday, between midnight and 5.30pm Eastern time, about $1 billion worth of sales had been generated in online sales, up 22% from the previous Thanksgiving, with more than 26% of sales from mobile devices, says Adobe. The firm projects total mobile sales will be 29%, a record.
Adobe says the average discount is 24% and that sales were led by Star Wars toy products, the Pie Face Game and Crayola Super Art Coloring Kit, along with tech items such as Samsung 4K TVs, the heavily discounted Apple iPad Air 2, video game consoles Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 and the Beats by Dr Dre headphones.
The biggest shopping day is actually Cyber Monday, followed by Black Friday.
Meanwhile, Thanksgiving Day shopping has grown in popularity as retailers have expanded Black Friday store sales from Friday into Thursday. This year, 22.3% of consumers are expected to shop on Thanksgiving, up from 18.3% last year, according to the National Retail Federation. Overall, nearly 136 million people are slated to shop over the entire holiday weekend, up from nearly 134 million last year.
The biggest retail chains, including Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy, planned to open at 5pm and 6pm on Thanksgiving Day, while others preferred to wait for the traditional Black Friday sale, including Staples, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods.
Steve Diab of Carson, California, camped outside a Los Angeles area Best Buy all night, hoping to nab one of the 50-inch TVs from Toshiba that was being advertised as a $149 special.
At a Nashville area Best Buy, shoppers had the same Toshiba TV in mind. “Of course this is worth it — it’s almost a 50-inch TV for only $150,” said Shawn Sims, the first customer in line. She slept in her car in the store’s car park to nab the first spot in line on Thanksgiving.
Retailers plan to continue sales throughout the weekend, and even get a jumpstart on Cyber Monday deals.
Overall, the National Retail Federation estimates about 135.8 million consumers will be shopping during the four-day weekend, compared with 133.7 million last year. The group also expects sales in November and December to be $630.5 billion, up 3.7% from the last two months of the year in 2014.