Holiday deals are available for several days now, stretching beyond Black Friday and a lot of people are choosing to shop online.
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Retail giant Amazon has reported record figures as shoppers abandoned the high street and went online in search of bargains on Black Friday.
But executives from top retailers including Wal-Mart, Target and J. C. Penney dismiss the chatter about the irrelevance of Black Friday, saying they have worked hard to blend their online operations with the physical stores.
“I kind of stay out the way, I don’t mess around, I grew up in a house full of women, so I stay out the way let her do her thing, I baby-sit, that’s what I do, I’m baby-sitting”, said Bobby Singleton.
But it predicts the number of people visiting stores will rise this week as they collect products ordered online.
Shoppers need to be especially careful of any unexpected pop-ups that they spot while shopping online.
An epic four-day splurge by consumers shopping online is expected to result in retailers breaking sales records.
Shoppers who did turn up waited in queues and made their purchases calmly.
Online browsing and orders had their strongest year yet, according to reports from IBM and Adobe that showed double-digit increases in online spending. However, this year stores are noticing something different.
“US consumers have turned into digital shopping ninjas this holiday season as retailers continue to adjust to a huge influx of smartphone shoppers”, said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst, Adobe Digital Index.
According to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, 135.8 million people will or may shop in stores and online on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Sunday, more than the 133.7 million estimated by 2014’s survey. Cyber Monday reached $2.64 billion in online sales a year ago. And sporting goods chain REI, which was always closed on Thanksgiving, is bowing out of Black Friday too. IBM said that Samsung TVs, the Apple Watch, Sony TVs, Beats by Dre headphones, and LG TVs were some of this year’s most-wanted items.
The latest numbers come from Adobe, which today released the final totals for Thanksgiving and Black Friday (previously reported numbers were projections).
Retail analyst Nick Bubb added: “It looks as if Black Friday spending has been more spread out this year and more weighted to online, but every indication is that the combined event will be bigger than last year overall”. They left Spencer’s home at 4 a.m. Friday and were at Cabela’s, a hunting and outdoor equipment store, in Kansas City, Kansas, an hour later. No lines had more than a few customers.
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“Black Friday makes little sense in the UK”. Orders can typically be placed immediately, without having to stand out in the cold in the middle of the night waiting in Black Friday’s infamously long lines just to get a good deal. He expected a crowd, but found just a handful of other shoppers.
