Black Friday is back but with fewer crowds, fewer discounts Retail News

Cheap U.S. hunters went out in the cold weather to buy Christmas presents on Black Friday, and found fewer stores than previous years because large U.S. retailers opened their doors early.

A change in the line, fears of COVID and lower discounts have reduced the crowd the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which marks the start of the year-end shopping season. Many shoppers also choose to venture inside the collection instead of daring.

“What a lot of customers are doing is drive-up, they don’t even go into the store. I think that’s one of the reasons it seems so quiet, ”said 29-year-old Ian Korolenko, a vacant salesman asked to help Target on Black Friday.

“I also think a lot of those stores are making Black Friday deals earlier in the week, and a lot of them are going online now.”

Macy’s is approaching the digital delivery deadline as Christmas approaches, CEO Jeff Gennette told Reuters in an interview. The deadline will now be December 22nd or December 23rd, compared to December 15th last year. Buyers can order same day delivery in several stores and categories if requested by 10:00.

“You still have that last-minute procrastinator that will come in on Christmas Eve,” Gennett said.

Francisco Martinez, 22, a delivery driver, was one of more than 100 people outside a Walmart Supercenter in Chicago’s Kilbourn Park neighborhood before 5 p.m., with 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 degrees Celsius) weather.

While people were queuing, a Walmart employee handed out coupons for items like Apple AirPods and watches and Gateway laptops.

“I want to get a 65-inch Element TV – it’s a $ 350 discount,” said Martinez, wearing three layers of clothing, adding, “I think I’ll get it; it’s not as crowded as before.”

“The first birds on the Internet get a worm”

As online shopping has progressed, the Black Friday crowd has shrunk, especially in 2020 when people were not yet included and were concerned about COVID-19.

Dresden Davis, 28, said he was shopping for Black Friday from his couch now because sales aren’t as “Black Friday” as before. “It seems to me that a lot of places only have a 20-25 percent discount, usually when Black Friday sales are higher,” said Davis, a specialist in strategy and planning in Odenton, Maryland.

For November and December, online sales are projected to record a record $ 207 billion, up 10 percent from last year, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index. The National Retail Federation expects brick and line holiday sales to grow between $ 8.5 percent and $ 10.5 percent, from $ 843.4 million to $ 859 million.

Walmart, Best Buy and Target this year did not require buyers to be vaccinated to wear masks, but some indoor shopping malls maintained existing mask requirements.

He visited Reuters news in stores around Chicago, where both staff and shoppers in general wore masks.

Kelsey Hupp, 36, has been shopping at Macy’s department stores in downtown Chicago for years on Black Friday, and has kept up the tradition this year.

“Chicago is pretty safe and disguised and vaccinated. I got my booster, so I’m not too worried,” Macy’s Gennette said of Black Friday store traffic “exceeding our expectations in the first two hours.”

A survey by Deloitte showed that people spent 80 to 85 percent of their budget before Black Friday.

“People want to get back to normal,” said Rod Sides, Deloitte, the U.S. retail leader. “Birds in the starting line and birds that entered the store can take the worm.”

Another concern is that a constant blockage in the supply chain could prevent retailers from supplying items requested, such as Hoverboard scooters, Oculus Quest 2 headphones, Nerf toys, AirPods Pro headphones and MacBook Air laptops.

Half demand

U.S. consumers enter the holidays full of spending power, thanks to several rounds of government pandemic mitigation, still a huge pile of savings, and double-digit wage increases as companies compete with employees.

Posters showing discounted products are seen in a store as Black Friday sales begin at The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass in Simpsonville, Kentucky. [File: Jon Cherry/Reuters]

Online sales and brick sales are combined outside of the store. Merchants including Target, Macy’s and Walmart allocated more space and staff to online collection stations and parking lots.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, hired 150,000 employees for the holidays, many for those jobs. Walmart gives users an hour to schedule a time to retrieve orders.

Target added more than 18,000 parking spaces, more than double the number of places last year. Target’s website warns that there are “limited quality” and “no rainfall”.

External revenue grew 92 percent in November compared to November 2019, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.

Electronics — which is inadequate supply due to global chip shortages — had the highest level of stock depletion, followed by personal care, and home and garden, according to Adobe. Most of November, stock shortages rose 261 percent from 2019.

“Instead of watching eight stacked box TVs, you’re going to watch three or four stacked TVs,” said NPD analyst Marshal Cohen.

Elver Gomez, 21, came to Best Buy at 6 a.m. but found the laptops he wanted for Apple and Microsoft.

“It looks like the stock is sold out this year or not at such a high price,” the student said. “I’m not going to get what I wanted.”