Martin noted that where are several contributing factors, including fewer available store hours on Thanksgiving Day and a later Hanukah that is anticipated to push sales into December.
Advertisement
(/Daily Free Press via AP). They accounted for only 15% of sales on Black Friday, which is a 2% decrease.
Some of the decline could be attributed to shoppers researching online and going to stores when they’re ready to buy, Kearns said.
“Holiday shopping started well in advance of Thanksgiving weekend this year, but there’s no question people were still incredibly eager to get their hands on the deals that retailers were offering on electronics, apparel, toys and even small appliances”, said Prosper Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow, in the announcement.
“The use of “click and collect” this Thanksgiving holiday weekend highlights the growing popularity of omnichannel shopping”, said Jesse Tron, ICSC Spokesperson. This year, however, was a little different than years past. The term Cyber Monday was coined a decade ago, when retailers noticed a spike in online holiday shopping on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
While the industry group’s poll did not estimate the total sales for the extended weekend, its broad conclusions show that while in-store shopping was relatively left unchanged from previous year, online shopping has seen a significant increase.
It also estimated that spending per person was $299.60.
The purchases were also age group specific with shoopers in the 25-34 year group spending an average of $425.08, 69.3% or $294.44 of it going toward gift purchases.
The data, without year-over-year comparisons, paints an incomplete picture of the behavior and spending of US shoppers over the weekend. Thanksgiving alone constituted $1.7 billion and online spending on Black Friday increased 14% compared to 2014. Black Friday has become a staple of the Thanksgiving holiday season, serving as the day where the overwhelming majority of gifts to be unwrapped on Christmas day are purchased.
“Friday was busier and Saturday didn’t disappoint”, he said. It had been $380.95 in 2014’s Black Friday weekend and $407.02 the year before. In a strip mall that included Kmart, every store was open, but the only one with a shopper inside was Starbucks. “For those that would prefer to shop from the comfort of their home, our Black Friday online deals certainly won’t disappoint”.
Advertisement
The Apple Watch was especially popular in stores, Target said.
