(Updated Online Expense Estimate) by Siddharth Cavale, Katherine Masters and Arriana McLymore
Shoppers flocked to stores around the world on a subdued Black Friday compared to previous years, looking for discounted electronics, clothing and household items at the occasion of the kick-off of the end-of-year shopping season, crucial for major retail brands.
Brokerage TD Cowen lowered its U.S. holiday spending forecast from 4% to 5% to growth of 2% to 3% as it predicted zero attendance for Black Friday. October and November discounts have taken away the excitement and urgency of “Black Friday.”
“People already got what they wanted,” said David Klink, senior analyst at Huntington Private Bank, which owns shares of Walmart and Target. “There are only so many big screen TVs and Alexa
[assistants vocaux d’Amazon] that you can buy”
With many consumers squeezed by persistent inflation and high interest rates, holiday spending in the United States is expected to increase at the slowest pace in five years. Most major retailers have cut back on seasonal hiring. Retailers will likely continue to discount throughout the season to avoid out-of-stocks at the end of the year.
Buyer caution – coupled with strong quarterly performance from discount retailers like Target
TGT.N and Ross Stores ROST.O – shows continued concern about inflation and the rising cost of living, even as fears of a recession fade.
According to Barbara Kahn, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, “people are more aware of the value of products.” “People are spending, but they are doing it more prudently
According to estimates from the National Retail Federation, a record 130.7 million people are expected to shop in stores and online in the United States on Black Friday this year. But at 6 a.m. Friday at a Walmart in New Milford, Conn., the parking lot was only half full.
“It’s a lot quieter this year, a lot quieter,” said Theresa Forsberg, who visits the same five stores with her family at the dawn of each Black Friday. She was at a nearby Kohl’s KSS.N store at 5 a.m.
In Paramus, New Jersey, crowds at the Garden State Plaza mall were lower than in previous years, according to Michael Brown, a partner at the consulting firm Kearney, who has tracked retail activity for the past 35 years .
This year it wasn’t a good old kick-in-the-door type of business event, he said. Shopping center shoppers “only took one or two bags, not armloads like in the years before the pandemic.” They’re not blowing their budget today.”
U.S. shoppers plan to spend an average of $875 this holiday season, up $42 from last year. Clothing, gift cards and toys top most shopping lists, according to an early November survey by the National Retail Federation of 8,424 adults.
The tradition of Black Friday originated in the United States, but it has spread around the world and has also moved online. The rise of online shopping () has reduced the importance of Black Friday as a single-day event.
According to data from Adobe Analytics, shoppers spent approximately $7.3 billion online through 6:30 p.m. ET on Black Friday, an increase of 7.4% from to last year. On Thanksgiving Day, they spent $5.6 billion online, according to Adobe.
“I think people will continue to spend on travel and leisure activities online and not necessarily in stores,” said Jimmy Lee, managing director of The Wealth Consulting Group, which owns shares of Amazon.
“The excitement of queuing on Black Friday doesn’t exist as much anymore. Many people… prefer to stay home and look for deals”
BIGGER DISCOUNTS
Retailers from Macy’s MN to Amazon AMZN.O have launched deals as early as October and are likely to offer additional discounts as Christmas approaches, Macy’s Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gennette told investors this week. this month.
Whether these deals will attract inflation-plagued consumers is retailers’ biggest concern.
Best Buy BBY.N is offering $100 to $1,600 off electronics, including laptops, flat-screen TVs and KitchenAid blenders, after telling investors this week that consumers are waiting to make purchases important.
The slowdown in luxury spending has prompted department stores, including Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom JWN.N , to offer deep discounts on items such as Balenciaga shoes and Oscar de la Renta earrings.
On Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, shoppers weren’t impressed. Carlos Araejo-Ruiz, 17, was hoping to buy designer belts at Nordstrom.
“There was an excitement factor when you expect to do amazing deals. It’s not the same as previous years,” he said.
Paul Aheren, 69, who drove from Indianapolis, said he remembers when luxury department stores took markdowns of up to 70 percent.
“At Saks, if you came in between 8 and 10 a.m., there were a bunch of things on sale. That’s not the case anymore,” he said. “What they’re doing now is liquidating inventory that they couldn’t sell. I don’t see that as a good deal.”
SPORADIC DEMONSTRATIONS
Black Friday came at the start of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas. Protesters have held sporadic “shut it down for Palestine” demonstrations across the United States.
Protesters staged a die-in at a Dallas mall; in Raleigh, protesters briefly closed the Crabtree Valley Mall, according to online videos; and in Boston, dozens of people demonstrated outside a Puma store, a brand that protesters say is the main sponsor of the Israeli Football Association.
Puma declared that it does not support any political orientation, political party or government.
(1 dollar = 0.9168 euros)