Black Friday Frenzy? Not This Year

NTD Newsroom
By NTD Newsroom
November 30, 2019Business News
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The frenzy of Black Friday shopping was missing this year as U.S. retailers offered earlier discounts and more consumers shopped online, though spot checks around the country showed traffic picked up after a sluggish morning.

This year, there will be six fewer sales days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Black Friday remains important for holiday shopping, but its relevance is fading amid early promotions.

The shorter calendar has pulled spending forward. More than half of consumers polled by the National Retail Federation had begun making purchases in the first week of November.

In-store visits showed more shoppers after a sluggish start Friday—but frantic crowds were nowhere to be seen.

“We’re still seeing a lot of buys online, pickup in-store activity, where someone will make the purchase on their computer, come into the store to pick it up,” said Jason Woosley, the Vice President of Commerce Product & Platform for Adobe’s Experience Business.

“And the great thing there is that about 82 percent of customers who do that, also purchase something else when they come into the store.”

According to cloud-based software company Salesforce, U.S. online sales on Thanksgiving Day jumped 17 percent to $4.1 billion. While global online revenue rose ever faster.

Reporting by NTD News.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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