Black Friday shopping kicks off in stores, continues online

Stores are trying to better cater to savvier.

But its popularity has been on the wane given the emergence of online shopping and cheap deals through the year from retailers including e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc.

Online shoppers broke records on Cyber Monday past year. “I plan to get done all my shopping today”. While a survey of about 1,000 USA consumers by AlixPartners indicated that 83 percent of shoppers expect to spend about the same or more this holiday season, mobile phones are making price comparisons simpler than ever.

Hot buys online and in stores were sleepwear, Apple items and board games.

Adobe is basing its forecast on early results from the shopping holiday, which show that it brought in roughly $490 million in the first 8.5 hours of the 24-hour event.

Gorny and Coley started shopping Thanksgiving evening, and around noon they were finishing with a trip to J.C. Penney on Friday morning.

Retailers have also been spreading deals out more throughout the week.

In general, many are offering the same deals in their brick-and-mortar stores as online, and they’re pushing them even earlier this year for online shoppers.

The NRF, the nation’s largest retail group, expects holiday sales to rise 3.6 per cent for November and December, better than the 3 per cent growth seen for those months a year ago. In addition to yesterday’s Thanksgiving sales report of a record 1 million in revenue from mobile devices, top retailers including Amazon, Walmart and Target have also now released numbers pointing to mobile’s sizable impact on their online sales. It has grown since its origin in 2005 to generate a whopping $3.19 billion in sales in 2015, up 21% from 2014, according to Adobe Systems estimates. In 2015, almost 30 million people shopped on Thanksgiving – an increase from 2014 but down from the 45 million who shopped on the holiday in 2013.

People are scrambling to the stores for Black Friday deals, but many are holding out for Cyber Monday.

Motzko says he scored 70 percent off cookware at Williams-Sonoma and was on the hunt for a Bluetooth speaker. Many said it’s the toys and electronics.

Historical studies indicate that elections affect the timing of retail sales rather than the overall volume, said Jerry Storch, the chief executive officer of Hudson’s Bay Co., which owns Saks Fifth Avenue. “I only came for a Swiffer and toothpaste, and I’m leaving with a bit more than that”. By 6 a.m., she and her two teenage daughters made it to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Jennifer Cleveland was hoping to tackle a shopping list of gifts for in-laws and some winter gear.

Lots of stores are offering the same deals as in previous years, like US$19.99 boots that remain a big attraction, cashmere sweaters and sheets.

Floor supervisor Kisha Mcrae, who has worked in retail for 10 years, said it was busier than a normal weekday, and people were largely buying home items like cookware as well as jewelry.