© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Shoppers are reflected in a Black Friday sign outside a store in Singapore November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Edgar Su
By Siddharth Cavale, Helen Reid and Arriana McLymore
NEW YORK/LONDON/RALEIGH, N.C. (Reuters) – Shoppers flocked to stores around the world on a Black Friday that appeared to be subdued compared to previous years, looking for electronics, clothing and household items. discounted at the start of the Christmas shopping season. crucial for large retailers.
Brokerage TD Cowen lowered its US Christmas spending estimate to 2% to 3% growth, from 4% to 5%, as it forecast stable traffic for Black Friday. Retailers’ early discounts during the October and November holidays took away the excitement and urgency of Black Friday.
“People already have what they want,” David Klink, senior analyst at Huntington Private Bank, which owns shares of Walmart (NYSE:) and Target. “There are a limited number of big-screen TVs and Alexa (Amazon’s voice assistants) you can buy.”
With many consumers pressured by persistent inflation and high interest rates, U.S. vacation spending is expected to rise at the slowest pace in five years. Most large retailers reduced their seasonal hiring. Retailers are likely to continue offering discounts on products during the holiday shopping season.
A record 130.7 million people are expected to shop in stores and online in the US on Black Friday this year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates. The event is known for crowds lining up at big box stores at dawn to buy discounted televisions and appliances.
But at 6 a.m. Friday at a Walmart in New Milford, Connecticut, the parking lot was only half full.
“This year it’s much calmer, much calmer,” says shopper Theresa Forsberg, who visits the same five stores with her family at dawn every Black Friday. She was at a nearby Kohl’s (NYSE:) store at 5 am.
In Paramus, New Jersey, crowds at the Garden State Plaza shopping center were smaller than in previous years, according to Michael Brown, a partner at the consulting firm Kearney, who has monitored shopping activity at major retail chains for the past 35 years. .
“This year wasn’t your typical kick-in-the-doors shopping event,” he said. Mall-goers “were carrying a bag or two, not the full arms seen in pre-pandemic years. Today they’re not blowing the budget. They’re hoping for a better deal.”
American shoppers plan to spend an average of $875 on holiday shopping – $42 more than last year – with clothing, gift cards and toys topping most shopping lists, according to a survey of 8,424 adults conducted by early November by the NRF, a retail trade group.
The Black Friday tradition started in the US, but it has gone global and has also spread to the Internet.
In France, Italy and Spain, most shoppers planned to buy clothes on Black Friday, followed by electronics, according to a PwC survey. On average, shoppers in France planned to spend 295 euros ($322), according to PwC, and 65% of purchases were expected to be made online.
In the United Kingdom, transaction volumes rose just 1.4% in the week to Wednesday compared with a year ago, according to Barclays, a bank that carries out almost half of the country’s credit and debit card transactions. .
“Black Friday hasn’t been the best lately,” said Naomi Ojomo as she browsed dresses in a Zara store in Canary Wharf, east London, adding that the discounts are less attractive due to many other sales throughout the year. .
The rise of online shopping has reduced the importance of Black Friday as a single-day event. Retailers from Macy’s (NYSE to Amazon (NASDAQ ) launch deals as early as October and often offer additional discounts closer to Christmas, Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette told investors this month.
Shoppers spent a record $5.6 billion online on Thanksgiving, data from Adobe (NASDAQ Analytics) showed, a 5.5% increase in online spending compared to last year, online with the projections.
Thanksgiving Day online discounts peaked at about 28% for toys, while electronics saw discounts of up to 27%, Adobe said. Barbie dolls, Marvel action figures, the Playstation 5 and the video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” were top sellers.
Adobe hopes that Black Friday will have the best deals on televisions, with discounts of 22%. Clothing, appliances, sporting goods, and furniture will also be heavily discounted, but prices will drop even further for Cyber Monday.
BIGGEST DISCOUNTS
Some retailers are holding their biggest sales for Thanksgiving weekend, and big players like Walmart, Lowe’s (NYSE:) and House deposit (NYSE:) maintained or deepened the announced discounts. The biggest concern for retailers is whether such deals will attract inflation-weary consumers.
Best Buy (NYSE:) is offering between $100 and $1,600 off electronics, including laptops, flat-screen TVs and KitchenAid mixers, after telling investors this week that shoppers are putting off major purchases.
“Air fryers, energy-efficient washing machines – as people look to save money on their energy bills – and upright vacuum cleaners are proving to be the most popular products,” said John Roberts, founder and chief executive of the British online retailer AO World.
British retailer Argos said the PlayStation 5 gaming console, Beats wireless headphones and Apple AirPods (NASDAQ were among its best-selling products during Black Friday.
A drop in luxury spending led department stores, including Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom (NYSE:), to offer deep discounts on items such as Balenciaga shoes and Oscar de la Renta earrings.
“I think people will continue to spend on travel and leisure activities that might be online and not necessarily in stores,” said Jimmy Lee, chief executive of Wealth Consulting Group, which owns Amazon shares.
“The excitement of standing in line on Black Friday isn’t as much anymore. Many people… prefer to stay home and look for deals.”
PROTESTS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
Protesters held “shut down for Palestine” rallies across the United States.
Protesters carried out an act of death in a Dallas shopping center; In Boston, dozens of people protested outside a Puma store, a brand that protesters say is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA); and in Raleigh, North Carolina, chanting protesters briefly shut down the Crabtree Valley Mall, according to online videos.
Black Friday came at the beginning of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas.
(1 dollar = 0.9168 euros)
