Online shoppers outnumber in-store shoppers over Thanksgiving weekend

While customer traffic remained unchanged compared to previous year on Thanksgiving Day, the figure declined by 1.8% on Black Friday. “And from our data, we saw greater retail sales generated prior to the Black Friday weekend, which is a result of retailers successfully elongating the holiday season.

The National Retail Federation said this year’s sales number can’t be compared to last year’s because the methodology has changed.

Market research firm ShopperTrak concurred that the confluence of November-long sales events and the advent of mobile shopping has taken a big bite out of Black Friday, as well as Thanksgiving, with preliminary figures pointing to thinner in-store crowds compared with past year.

Often, shoppers associate risk with shopping online, said Herbert Lin, a cyber policy expert at Stanford University; ModPOS is significant because it impacts those paying in stores at the register. That is higher than the $1.7-billion spent online on Thanksgiving Day and 2.7-billion on Black Friday. “In addition to a more fluid experience on retailers’ websites and on mobile, consumers can expect to see free shipping offers and better-than-ever programs for buy online and pick-up in store for those omnichannel shoppers”. Shoppers may have been put off by the cold drizzly weather Thanksgiving night or made a decision to spend time with families instead of hitting the stores, he said. “This is a hidden gem now, coming out to shop on Black Friday”.

The importance of the Thanksgiving weekend has also waned somewhat in recent years as retailers promote earlier in the season and demand shifts online. More than 103 million people shopped online on Thanksgiving Day, more than the under 102 million who went to stores, according to the National Retail Federation.

Sales at USA brick and-mortar stores on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday were marginally down from a year ago, yet the performance was still seen as solid in a Christmas shopping season where discounts spread well past the weekend.

In the early hours of trading on Friday, UK retailers reported shorter queues at their doors and tills, a feeling supported by Springboard, which tracks shopper numbers.

A shopper takes part in Black Friday sales at a Target store in Chicago, Illinois, United States, November 27, 2015.

Online browsing and orders had their strongest year yet, according to reports from IBM and Adobe that showed double-digit increases in online spending. Email promotions drove 25 percent more sales than in 2014, the company said.

The average spending per person over the weekend reached $229.60. Retail sales edged up only slightly in October after two flat months, according to the Commerce Department. That’s a slowdown from last year’s 4.1 percent gain, but above the 2.5 percent average over the past 10 years. But given the faster growth rates in e-commerce sales, the retail industry appears to be reaching a turning point.

“For holiday shopping this year, it will be a plough horse moving slowly but steadily, rather than a flying reindeer”, said Brian Wesbury, chief economist with Illinois-based First Trust Portfolios.