Retailers are banking on Black Friday to attract bargain-hungry holiday shoppers

November 29, 2024

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, HALELUYA HADERO and ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press Business Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — After pushing through early deals for weeks, retailers in the U.S. and some other countries tried to tempt customers with the promise of bigger discounts on Black Friday, the sales event that is still considered the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season even if it has lost some of its shine.

Department stores, malls and retailers — big and small — are looking at the day after Thanksgiving as a way to energize shoppers and lure them into physical stores while many of them do the majority of their shopping online.

According to retail technology company Sensormatic Solutions, enough consumers are enjoying holiday shopping in person that Black Friday remains the busiest retail day in the US.

“Black Friday is still an incredibly important day for retailers,” said Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic. “It’s important for them to attract shoppers to their store and give them the experience of browsing and touching and feeling items.”

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An aerial view shows a crowded parking lot at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, as early Black Friday shoppers arrive at the mall. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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At Macy’s Herald Square in Manhattan early Friday, a steady stream of shoppers found some half-price shoes and handbags, special-occasion dresses 30% off and 60% off the store’s luxury bedding brand.

Keressa Clark, 50, and her daughter Morghan, 27, who came to New York from Wilmington, North Carolina, arrived at 6:15 a.m. at the store that was used as the set for the 1947 Christmas film “Miracle on 34th Street.” “served.

“Where we come from, we don’t have Macy’s. “I’m actually shocked to see so many Black Friday deals because so many things are online,” said Morghan Clark.

Clark, who works as a nurse, said she feels better about the economy because of President-elect Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House and plans to spend $2,000 this holiday season, about $500 more than before a year.

She said she wouldn’t mind if prices rose next year because of Trump’s promised tariffs on foreign-made goods. “Anything that can encourage manufacturing in the U.S. I’m all for,” Clark said.

In the U.S., analysts are predicting a solid holiday shopping season, although perhaps not as robust as last year, as many shoppers remain cautious about their discretionary spending despite easing inflation.

In many stores, the frantic crowds of past Black Fridays never returned following the coronavirus pandemic. Early Friday morning, only half the parking spaces were full at a Walmart in Germantown, Maryland. Some shoppers returned items or did their routine grocery shopping.

Bharatharaj Moruejsan, a 35-year-old software engineer, said he doesn’t normally shop on Black Friday but decided to check out the deals at Walmart because he was jet-lagged after returning from a month-long family vacation in India. He purchased an iPad for his one-year-old daughter for $250, down from the original price of $370.

“It’s a good deal,” Moruejsan said.

With five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, retailers are even more focused on getting shoppers to buy early and in bulk.

Target had an exclusive book about Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and a bonus copy of her album “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” that would reportedly only be available in stores on Black Friday. Customers can buy them online starting Saturday.

Best Buy has introduced an expanded version of the door opener, the limited-time daily discounts that have been all the rage for years and sometimes led to fights. The country’s largest consumer electronics chain has been releasing great deals every Friday since November 8th and plans to continue the weekly promotion until December 20th.

Impulse purchases and self-gifting are potential areas for big sales growth, said Marshal Cohen, chief retail consultant at market research firm Circana. According to a study by Circana, shoppers are three times more likely to make a spontaneous purchase in a physical store than online.

Tara Rutherford, 53, headed straight to Macy’s Herald Square to shop for herself after finishing her night shift as a nurse at a Manhattan hospital. Rutherford, a newlywed, said she rarely shops on Black Friday because of her work schedule but feels “festive.”

“This is all about me,” she said, eyeing boots that were 40 percent off.

Black Friday is no longer a holiday event exclusive to the US. Retailers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK also appealed to holiday shoppers looking to save money.

In India, about 200 Amazon warehouse workers and delivery drivers gathered in New Delhi on Friday, some wearing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ masks, to demand better wages and working conditions. Similar protests were also planned in other countries.

Camilla Bjorkqvist, 48, and her friend Tessa Goosens, 48, traveled to New York from the Netherlands to spend Thanksgiving weekend with friends and shop at Macy’s. Although Black Friday has become a commercial event in the Netherlands, the women said it is not the same.

“Macy’s is special. “It’s iconic,” said Goosens, who bought a Samsonite suitcase and a suit for work on sale.

The National Retail Federation predicted shoppers would increase their spending by 2.5% to 3.5% in November and December compared to the same period last year.

Vivek Pandya, senior analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said greater buyer interest in bargain hunting this year would determine what sells and when.

For example, according to Adobe’s analysis, Thanksgiving is the best time to shop online to get the biggest discounts on sporting goods, toys, furniture and home appliances. But Black Friday is the best time to buy TVs online. People who bought a TV early in the season found discounts averaging 10.8%, while waiting until Friday is expected to bring a 24% discount, according to Adobe Digital Insights.

However, Cyber Monday is expected to be the best time to buy clothes and gadgets such as phones and computers online.

According to Adobe’s research, Black Friday weekend discounts are expected to peak at 30% on Cyber Monday and then fall to around 15%.

Hadero reported from Germantown, Maryland.

Originally published: November 29, 2024 at 4:43 am PST