Hot holiday items already hard to find
Retailers ran out of some of the season’s hottest items over the holiday weekend, a five-day stretch that gave the industry a strong tailwind as it heads into the all-important holiday season.
Fingerlings, the tiny monkeys that respond to sounds and touch, are looking like they may be this season’s most sought-after toy. Toys R Us had sold out by Sunday morning and won’t start restocking its shelves with the palm-sized toy until Friday. And by Black Friday morning, the popular “Instant Pot” no longer could be found on Kohl’s website, though the all-in-one cooker was still available in its stores.
Those were just two of the many items scooped up by the 174 million people who shopped in stores and online from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, according to the industry trade group National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics. That was 10 million more than the NRF had initially ex-
pected, sending a strong signal that its prediction of a 3.6% to 4% sales bump this season is on track.
“We don’t necessarily draw straight lines from this weekend to the rest of the holiday season,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay says. “Lots of things can still change. But we’re certainly encouraged.”
Online shoppers spent $6.59 billion on Cyber Monday, making it the biggest online shopping day ever, according to Adobe Analytics. And many bought and browsed with smartphones, making $2 billion in mobile purchases, the most in history, Adobe says.
But contrary to the oft-floated idea stores are dying while online shopping overtakes them, NRF found the largest segment of shoppers — 65 million — chose to visit an actual store as well as browse with a keyboard.
They turned out to be the most valuable customers as well, spending 17%, or $49, more on average than people who shopped at a store only and $82, or 32%, more than those who only clicked “buy” on a website. While some “point to the Internet and online-only shoppers as the precursor to some dramatic demise for the retail industry,” Shay says, “the truth is that the shoppers who shop online only spend less money than those who shop either in store ... or across channels.” However customers shop, running out of a hot item can be perilous. “Even with pretty good analytics and forecasting we’re still seeing ‘out of stocks,’ ” says Jill Standish, senior managing director of global retail for Accenture. “And hopefully these out of stocks will be something they can order quickly and get in ... If one retailer’s out of it, you can certainly go grab it from someone else.”