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NEW YORK — Fewer Americans visited stores from Thanksgiving through the long Black Friday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), which estimated total spending for the four days declined 11% from last year.
Fewer Americans visited stores from Thanksgiving through the long Black Friday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), which estimated total spending for the four days declined 11% from last year.
Earlier sales, a shift to online shopping and Americans’ lingering economic insecurity were cited by the federation as reasons for the decline.
Some shoppers took advantage of deep discounts retailers offered in the days or weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, the NRF noted, while others no doubt were waiting for what they assumed would be better deals as Christmas approaches.
Shoppers spent an average of $380.95 over the four days, down 6.4% from a year earlier, the NRF noted.
"Holiday sales are now a marathon, not a sprint," remarked Matthew Shay, the federation’s president and chief executive officer, in a November 30 conference call to discuss the NRF’s survey results.
The NRF in October forecast a 4.1% increase in sales, excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants, in November and December, up from last year’s 3.1% increase and better than the 2.9% average gain in holiday sales over the past decade. Despite the slow start over the Thanksgiving weekend, a 4.1% gain for the entire season remains a reasonable estimate, according to the NRF.
Retailers posted solid sales gains in November, suggesting that early deals, combined with plummeting pump prices, prompted consumers to loosen their purse strings.
Sales at stores open at least a year rose 5% from the previous year, according to Retail Metrics. November’s gain also bested October’s 4% gain in same-store sales.
Some of November’s biggest sales gains were turned in by Costco Wholesale Corp., Walgreen Co., Rite Aid Corp., Victoria’s Secret parent L Brands Inc. and action-sports retailer Zumiez Inc.
Walmart reported that its e-commerce platform handled a record number of orders on Cyber Monday, the marketing term for the Monday after Thanksgiving. The Walmart.com website wooed holiday shoppers with free shipping on orders over $50, and offered more than 70,000 items that consumers could order online and pick up the same day in a store.
Walmart’s record Cyber Monday came on the heels of its best-ever Black Friday weekend online: The five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday represented the company’s highest online sales to date over a five-day period, noted Joel Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Walmart.com.
Among the deals used to lure shoppers were a 42-inch TV for $299, a 10-inch tablet for $49 and a laptop computer for $299.
Target Corp. said it had its biggest online shopping day ever on Thanksgiving, when the retailer used its Target.com website to notify shoppers of "doorbuster" deals available later in the day at its stores.
Overall, Cyber Monday represented the heaviest online spending day in U.S. history, with sales up 17% from last year and surpassing $2 billion for the first time ever, according to research firm comScore Inc., which tracks online commerce.
Other organizations reported a more measured response for Cyber Monday: IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark reported that online sales rose 8.1% this year, down from last year’s jump of more than 20%.
IBM’s data show that smartphones accounted for 28.5% of online traffic on Cyber Monday yet represented only 9.1% of online sales, suggesting that smartphones remain a tool primarily used for browsing rather than for buying.
Despite the record traffic, the average person who shopped online over the long Black Friday weekend spent $159.55, the NRF reported, a decrease of 10.2% from last year.
Consumer electronics were a bright spot in the early holiday season, both online and in stores. The Consumer Electronics Association reported that about 45% of Black Friday shoppers had one or more gadgets on their shopping lists this year, the most in three years.
The season’s big winners will be those retailers and brands “delivering a consistent, relevant experience across digital and physical channels,” remarked Shelley Kohan, vice president of retail consulting at RetailNext Inc., a provider of retail analytics for brick-and-mortar stores.
