Stores far from overwhelmed as Black Friday sales begin

The National Retail Federation, which has been bullish with projections in the past, expects holiday sales to grow 3.6 percent this year to $655.8 billion.

The annual retail mega event began in many stores on Thanksgiving evening and will continue into the weekend.

Shoppers out in the early hours on Black Friday roamed stores in Southern California that they say were emptier than in years past.

Places like the outlet malls, Target, Walmart and Best Buy should be avoided like the plague, but Black Friday shopping in Jacksonville is not something that should be feared. He added that fragrances, technology like the Apple Watch, and clothing are hot items this year. Shoppers walk by signage advertising Black Friday sales at Dolphins Mall in Doral, Fla., Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016.

She and other shoppers who arrived after sunrise at the Garden City outdoor shopping mall in Cranston, Rhode Island, said they were glad their state – along with MA and ME – doesn’t let retailers open on Thanksgiving Day. But the amount that Americans have spent has declined in the past three years, slipping 26 percent from 2013 to an average of US$299.60 per person in 2015. But a friend was first in line for the deal and bought one for her.

Microspot’s home page said its online shop was unavailable Friday due to “maintenance”, and a customer service representative said by phone the site was overloaded. Almost $550 million of that came from mobile devices, a huge 58.6% leap from 2015.

Meanwhile, revenue growth for Thanksgiving Day may get sluggish due to heavy markdowns made in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day, with reductions on electronic items, toys and pet-care tools were all better than past year.

Adobe Digital Insights says Thanksgiving Day sales online totaled $1.93 billion, up 11.5 percent from the holiday previous year, as more people opted to stay home and shop online instead of hitting the stores.

As major retailers including Target and Kohl’s raked in record online sales on Thanksgiving Day, it wasn’t enough to lift industry-wide digital revenues as high as one forecast had anticipated.

The top-selling items, Adobe says, include a slew of electronics and toys, like Samsung 4K TVs, iPads, and electric scooters. “It’s good. It’s fun”, he said as he took a break from the deals on a bench with his infant nephew in his lap.

The brick-and-mortar stores, Wal-Mart and Target have not left any stone unturned and are working hard to bolster in-store sales along with providing customers with online deals a week before the sales event.

“I said it before and I will say it again, we will win the season on price – on Black Friday, on “Cyber Monday” and every day before and after”, said Wal-Mart chief marketing officer Steve Bratspies. Mall of America suspended operations on the holiday. She wasn’t able to hit the stores on Black Friday or Thanksgiving because she had to work.