Analysts at SunTrust said Thanksgiving Day shopping was a “bust” this year, citing visits to shopping malls in the Northeast and the southeastern US.
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Matthew Shay, president of the National Retail Federation, said Friday that there were reports around the country of long lines outside of stores on Thanksgiving night and of record-breaking online sales.
Target’s “10 Days of Deals” continues through Tuesday, Dec. 1. However Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) saw digital sales grow 28% during the same quarter. Online retail sales were 24% higher to $500 million as of 11: 00 AM EST on Thursday, Adobe reported. “While Watch unit sales have been roughly 6 million since launch, based on our analysis and improving consumer interest heading into the holiday season, we believe Watch sales in the December quarter should be close to the 5 million-/6 million-unit mark”.
Though Apple is not promoting Black Friday savings this year, other retailers are advertising their Apple products to lure in shoppers – and boosting Apple’s brand in the process, Gene Munster, managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, told CNBC. “And, they prepped beforehand – more than 25 million customers accessed store maps and the circular through our online and mobile tools for Black Friday”.
Well be able to have product in their doorstep in a couple of days, he said in an interview Thursday at the Jersey City, N.J., Target store. Shares of the technology company closed down less than 1 percent Friday, on a day when the stock markets were mostly flat.
In the toy aisles, classics like LEGO and Barbie were strong again, as were Star Wars items.
Retailers call their answer omnichannel, a strategy that views all inventory the same and uses algorithms to calculate whether it makes more sense to ship online orders from a distribution center or a store.
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Retailers face additional margin pressures from shoppers, who dont want to pay shipping fees. The e-commerce behemoth already has a one-hour delivery service for Prime customers. While it has resisted offering holiday discounts so far, it’ll be worth watching to see if the company comes up with any promotions tagged to Cyber Monday. The four-day weekend is expected to account for 10-15% of the holiday season sales, NRF reported. “We continue to view the Apple Watch as a potential door opener for wearable technology across the board, as this next paradigm shift is likely set to take place across the consumer/enterprise landscape”. “It still is a major kickoff period”.
