Black Friday shoppers “fight” for best deals

The Black Friday shopping frenzy this year appears to have shifted from the brick and mortar store to the web. Auto dealers have gotten in on the game and are offering “Black Friday” discounts. Online sales were up to $822.25 million on Black Friday as of just before noon yesterday, a
15 percent jump from 2014.

Some companies struggled to keep their websites operating on Black Friday, traditionally held to coincide with the end of Thanksgiving in the U.S., as huge numbers of people logged on to try to get the best deals.

At Amazon, it was another matter.

Digital research firm comScore predicts online sales in the November-December period will increase 14 percent this year to $70 billion (roughly Rs. 4,68,475 crores).

NBC News reported that for many, shopping online was “a more comfortable alternative” than crowded malls. There were also some surprising hits this year, such as a three-foot-tall teddy bear that sold out within minutes at many Target stores. Doorbuster sales made up about 40 percent of sales volume.

“They come in and they want Doc McStuffins, they want Mickey Mouse, they want Toy Story, they want these things that their kids watch every day”, Turner said.

“It’s the adrenaline of it. Waiting in line waiting for the freaking store to open up”, said Tracey McCoy.

“I didn’t make any money, and managed to piss off everyone”, she said. Adobe had expected to see 29 cents on the dollar of transactions through mobile devices – but the company saw 37 cents on the dollar on mobile.

“I use smartphones to do holiday shopping a lot, it is very convenient”, said Connie Fang, 24, a student in NY. She said they’ve had to adapt their strategy to the demand of the times. The rise of mobile wallets, like PayPal or Apple Pay, was also making mobile shopping easier, she said.

The majority of consumers opted for online, rather than physical store purchase, causing the websites of the country’s well-known retailers’ to go down due to the volume of incoming traffic.

Northeast Mississippi shoppers were out in full force only hours after their Thanksgiving lunches.

Consumers are also spending more on restaurants, sports events, concerts, travel and services like spas.

On Friday, there was evidence that consumers were vacillating between shopping in stores and online. The job market remains strong. The National Retail Federation estimated 99.8 million shoppers were out for Black Friday today.

Overall, holiday spending is expected to grow at a far slower pace.

While the predicted in-store chaos of a year ago failed to materialise, analysts have forecast that the flood of customers snapping up deals online could lead to a total four-day spend of £3.2 billion.

For decades, Black Friday was the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.

J. Christopher Toys and Gifts was one of those businesses. For business establishments, eBay.com offers at least 50 percent off from the original prices of the Lenovo ThinkPad, Samsung 4K Ultra HD 3D Smart Tv, and GoProHero4 Silver Action Camera.

“A lot of retailers based their inventory purchasing on last year’s weather”, said Scott Bernhardt, president of Planalytics. “It’s worth the flight”, Tony Russell said.