For Black Friday, some trends flip
Not so much early shopping this year as inflation takes bite
NEW YORK — Cautious shoppers hunted for the best deals at stores and online as retailers offered new Black Friday discounts to entice consumers eager to start buying holiday gifts but weighed down by inflation.
This year’s trends appeared to be a contrast from a year ago when consumers were buying early for fear of not getting what they needed amid supply-network clogs. Stores didn’t have to discount much because they were struggling to bring in items.
Early shopping turned out to be a fleeting trend, said Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail at Salesforce, which tracks online sales. People this year are holding out for the best bargains, and retailers responded this week with more attractive online deals after offering mostly lackluster discounts earlier in the season.
Adding to the confusion swirling through retailers’ expectations is the divide that is rippling through America’s topsy-turvy economy nearly three years into the pandemic.
Many well-off consumers are still flush with savings and faring well financially, bolstering luxury brands and keeping some high-end retailers and travel companies optimistic about the holiday season. At the same time, America’s poor are running low on cash buffers, struggling to keep up with rising prices and facing climbing borrowing costs if they use credit cards or loans to make ends meet.
There were signs that Black Friday remains a strong lure for many.
Macy’s Herald Square in Manhattan, where discounts included 60% off fashion jewelry and 50% off select shoes, was bustling with shoppers early Friday. Some came with large suitcases to carry their hauls.
The traffic was “significantly larger” on Black Friday compared to the previous two years because shoppers feel more comfortable in crowds, Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said.
He said that bestsellers from Macy’s online sale, which started last weekend, included 50% off beauty sets. Last year Macy’s, like many other stores, had supply chain issues and some of the gifts didn’t arrive until after Christmas.
“Right now we are set and ready to go,” he said.
Customer traffic was also higher than last year at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to Jill Renslow, executive vice president of business development at the shopping center. She said 10,000 people were at the mall during the first hour after the 7 a.m. opening, though inflation prompted many shoppers to figure out what to buy before showing up.
“With the economy, people are planning a little more,” she said.
Delmarie Quinones, 30, went to a Best Buy in Manhattan to pick up a laptop and printer she ordered online at $179, down from $379. Quinones, a health home aide, said that higher prices on food and other expenses are making her reduce her spending from a year ago, when she had money from government child tax-credit payments.
“I can’t get what I used to get,” said the mother of five children, ages 1 to 13. “Even when it was back to school, getting them essentials was difficult.”
Major retailers including Walmart and Target stuck with their pandemic-era decision to close stores on Thanksgiving Day, moving away from doorbusters and instead pushing discounts on their websites.
But people are still shopping on Thanksgiving — online. Garf said Salesforce data showed online sales spiked in the evening during the holiday this year, suggesting people went from feasting to phone shopping. And with holiday travel up, a greater share of online shopping occurred on mobile devices this year, he said.
“The mobile phone has become the remote control of our daily lives, and this led to an increase in shopping on the couch as consumers settled in after Thanksgiving dinner,” Garf said.
But with more shoppers visiting stores this year, growth in online sales slowed.
Shoppers spent $5.3 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, up 2.9% from the holiday last year, according to Adobe Analytics, which monitors spending across websites. Adobe expects that online buying on Black Friday will hit $9 billion, up just 1% from a year ago.
Black Friday saw some of the labor unrest that has rippled through the retail industry. A coalition of trade unions and advocacy organizations are coordinating strikes and walkouts at Amazon facilities in more than 30 countries under a campaign called “Make Amazon Pay.” Among other places, hundreds of workers at a facility near the German city of Leipzig staged a protest Friday, calling for better working conditions and higher pay.
Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend, which includes Cyber Monday, a key barometer of shoppers’ willingness to spend. The two-month period between Thanksgiving and Christmas represents about 20% of annual retail sales.