Americans are expected to open their wallets on Black Friday even after holiday spending skyrocketed in the weeks before, undeterred by higher prices and less generous discounts.
The day after Thanksgiving in the United States traditionally attracts consumers to pursue deals in stores and online.
Nearly two-thirds of Black Friday shoppers in the US planned to go to the stores instead of shopping online this year, up from 51% in 2020, before a coronavirus vaccine was widely available, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.
In-store sales were up 39.8 percent year over year through mid-morning on Friday on the US east coast, according to Mastercard SpendPulse. Total retail sales, excluding cars, increased by 12.1%.
According to Adobe Analytics, consumers were on track to spend between $8.8 billion and $9.6 billion online on Friday, meaning e-commerce sales could pass record levels. $9 billion spent last year. On Thanksgiving Day Thursday, e-commerce spending totaled $5.1 billion, Adobe said.
According to data from credit card issuer Barclaycard Payments, there was record spending in the UK on Black Friday. Trading was up 2.4% in the evening from 2019 levels and up 23% from 2020.
“We should be gearing up for one of the most successful Black Friday shopping sprees on record,” said Rob Cameron, chief executive officer of Barclaycard Payments.
Many US consumers have sought to end their holiday shopping earlier than usual, concerned that supply chain Congestion can make some gifts difficult to find and delay e-commerce delivery.
According to market research group GlobalData, nearly 59% of US consumers started shopping earlier than 2020. A survey by McKinsey found that 31% of respondents completed at least three-quarters of their purchases in the past year. holiday in early October, partly due to supply concerns.
“Retailers have a big problem. Consumers want to spend and they want to spend early,” said Tamara Charm, who leads McKinsey’s agile consumer insights team.
Early holiday shopping lifted US retail sales to a 1.7% month-over-month increase in October, a bigger jump than economists expected. Adobe says online shoppers have spent more than $75 billion since early November, up 20 percent from the same period last year.
Sales rose during periods of rising inflation. Consumer price index last month climb up at the fastest annual rate in three decades, leaving holiday shoppers facing higher prices and fewer discounts.
According to Salesforce, the average Thanksgiving discount is down 7% year-over-year in the US. While order value increased 11%, consumers bought 3% fewer items.
Despite congestion at ports and warehouses, some of the largest US retailers including Walmart and Target have managed to secure more stock than they did at the start of last year’s holiday season. Home Depot and Lowe’s, the home improvement chains, recorded strong sales in the three months to the end of October as shoppers shopped for holiday decorations.
Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, forecasts that Apple is selling about 40 million iPhones between the weekend of Black Friday and Christmas, which will lead to a record holiday rate for the company amid quality shortages. Semiconductor has pulled the supply.
According to Adobe. However, laptops, televisions and smartwatches are among the most popular items among online shoppers.
