New York (AP) — Things look almost normal on Black Friday this year.
Malls and stores are reporting a decent, if not flood, crowd of people fighting for the latest toys and electronics. Online shopping is now too common, discounts are more subdued and will spread over the next few weeks. At Christmas, both on the website and in the store.
However, out-of-stocks due to supply shortages, soaring gas and food prices, and labor shortages that make it difficult to serve customers are also causing shoppers’ dissatisfaction.
Mall of America, the country’s largest mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, reported that overall traffic at the time of its opening on Friday more than doubled compared to a year ago.
“We got off to a great start,” said Gillenslow, Senior Vice President of Mall of America.
However, as with many retailers and restaurants, staffing issues affected the mall and required shorter business hours.
Black Friday sales in stores and online increased by 12% by the morning, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which widely tracks spending with cards and cash. That was below the 20% growth forecast for the day.
Sales are expected to grow for the entire holiday season this year.. During November and December, the National Retail Federation, the largest retail group in the United States, predicts that sales will increase between 8.5% and 10.5%. Sales increased by about 8% during the 2020 holiday season when shoppers locked down early in the pandemic spent money on pajamas and household items.
Black Friday holds the American imagination as an enthusiastic shopping day, but has lost its place in the last decade as it opens Thanksgiving and shifts shopping to Amazon and other online retailers. I did. The store further diminished the importance of that day by promoting Black Friday sales on more and more days.
The pandemic has led many people Retailers closing on Thanksgiving Day We will push discounts on our website as early as October. There are also great deals in stores, but that continues this year.
At the Fashion Center Mall in the northern suburbs of Virginia, window signs advertised Aldo for 50% off boots, J.Crew for 40% off regular priced items, and Forever 21 for 30% off. 35% to 50% off store advertising at Capital Mall in Olympia, Washington.
Major retailers like Wal-Mart have said they haven’t blown up “doorbuster” deals in advertising. DealNews.com Analyst Julie Ramhold. Small chains like Victoria’s Secret and Gap, on the other hand, have a hard time managing supply issues. Victoria’s Secret recently said that 45% of holiday products are still stagnant in transit.
Supply chain stagnation is a major concern this year, and both stores and shoppers are trying to find a workaround. Some of the largest retailers in the United States even charter their vessels and reroute goods to less crowded ports.
Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said the company is ready. “We are deep and ready,” he said, with inventory levels up 20% compared to last year. “We are in good shape.” However, many sales floors looked different from the past when high piles of merchandise were on display. At Macy’s in Manhattan, shoes were piled up so expensive shoppers couldn’t reach for them.
The fear of not getting what they wanted helped bring people back to the physical store.
Tim Clayburn was shopping at the Fashion Center in Pentagon City, Virginia, on Friday morning. He wanted to make sure he received the gifts he wanted from his relatives.
“I’m very worried that everyone won’t ship things to you on time. I’d rather get things directly, so I don’t have to worry about shipping,” he said.
But that didn’t work for everyone. Christian McDonald, the first person in a line of about 75 people waiting for the target store in Costa Mesa, California to open, is back empty-handed.
“Since it was Black Friday, I thought I had a new Switch OLED in stock, so I came here, but it wasn’t,” said McDonald’s, who waited an hour and a half to enter the popular Nintendo. .. Video game console. “So I think I’m going home.”
Still, experts believe that Black Friday will be one of the busiest shopping days of the year. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, this past Monday-Sunday US retail sales are expected to increase 10% from last year and 12% from the 2019 holiday season, excluding cars and gas.
Some malls on Long Island have been busier than last year, but haven’t been enthusiastic, said Marshal Cohen of market research firm The NPD Group. At Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ, there was a line outside Pandora and Bath & Body Works around noon, but some small shops were almost empty. In the afternoon, at the Fashion Center Mall on the outskirts of Washington, DC, Macy’s became crowded, making it difficult to navigate the store and having to help Forever 21 guards clear the crowd. Shopper Edmund Kunas said about 30 people were lined up in Best Buy in the Denver area when the door opened at 5 am nationwide.
“It’s amazing how small the crowd is this morning,” said Kunath, who was looking for a deal on Apple AirPods headphones and hard drives.
Retail workers are worried about safety due to shopper frustration and staff shortages, said Stuart Applebaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union, who said the store was angry about how to handle shoppers. Should provide training.
A Zara employee at the fashion center didn’t reveal his name, but said he was feeling stressed all morning as the store seemed to be understaffed. “This is the crazyest thing I’ve seen in a long time,” he said. The Zara store manager declined the interview saying he was too busy.
At Macy’s in Manhattan, a pandemic was imminent. Employees wore masks, and many shoppers wore masks, but there was also a sense of celebrating the joy of shopping.
Carol Claridge of Bourne, England, has been in New York for 15 years for Thanksgiving Week shopping, but skipped last year due to a pandemic. The United States reopened to travelers from the United Kingdom in early November when the pandemic travel ban was lifted.
“I had to wait a long time to do this,” said Claridge, who was looking at the beauty gift set on the ground floor of Macy’s with a friend. “We pick up whatever we think we like. We call it an annual shopping outing.”
According to Aurelien Duthoyit, Senior Sector Advisor at Allianz Research, shoppers are expected to pay an average of 5% to 17% more to buy Black Friday toys, clothing, appliances, TVs and more this year. TV price increase. This is because the discounts available apply to items that are already expensive.
Aniva Pawlowski arrived at Macy’s shortly before opening at 6am and planned to buy shoes and a coat. Shopping on Thanksgiving was a family tradition, but she stayed home last year to shop online. New Yorkers are worried about rising gas and food costs, but are now shopping directly because of fears of shortages, and will spend about $ 1,000 on holiday shopping.
“Everything is expensive,” she said.
According to Mastercard, online shopping is still huge, with weekly sales expected to increase by 7% after a significant increase of 46% a year ago when many shoppers were at home. Throughout the holiday season, online sales should increase by 10% from a year ago, compared to 33% last year, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.
“What the pandemic has brought to the retail industry has been forced to become a better digital retailer,” said Cohen of The NPD Group. In other words, the day after Thanksgiving was no longer the case.
David Zalubowski in Lone Tree, Colorado; Parker Prefoy in Arlington, Virginia. Manuel Valdés in Olympia, Washington. Brian Gallion in Wayne, NJ. Eugene Garcia of Costa Mesa, California contributed to this report.
Copyright 2021 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
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