Black Friday 2016: More shoppers, less spending

But other factors could have contributed to the decline in per-person spending: Retailers have been spreading their Black Friday deals out over a longer stretch, so it’s possible that many people pounced on offers several days before Thanksgiving even arrived. “We are grateful for everyone coming in”. Sixty-five percent of employers either allow their employees unrestricted access to do online shopping or allow access but monitor it for excessive use, according to a recent survey of more than 1,400 companies in the US and Canada by Robert Half Technology, a staffing firm based in Menlo Park California. She said she got a bit of a late start this year because of the presidential election, so she’s been looking online for deals and jumping when she sees them.

By Thanksgiving evening, online spending by U.S shoppers reached $1.13 billion for the day, according to Adobe Digital Index, surging almost 14 percent from a year ago. “That was good practice in the shipping department of getting everything out as quickly as possible”.

The federation found in its survey that 43.8% of consumers shopped online during the four-day span, a 4.2% uptick over 2015. Of those who purchased online over the four-day period, 74 per cent did so on Friday, up 1.3 per cent from previous year.

Not to be left out from the frenzy, Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments’ Portmans apparel store, among others in its stable, had a 30 per cent Black Friday sale, which morphed into a Cyber Monday sale which ends at midnight on Monday.

The surge in online shopping has taken a toll on brick-and-mortar stores.

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and I’ve never seen a Friday morning be this quiet”, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group, to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, data from researcher ShopperTrak showed that consumer visits to physical stores those two days fell 1 percent from a year earlier.

The average amount consumers spent over the weekend was down to $289.19 from $299.60 in 2015, in part due to the steep sales prices retailers were offering. The Mall of America in Minnesota, which opened 24 years ago, reported that Friday was the highest traffic day it can recall. That increased more than threefold from past year.

The number of Americans who plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year will increase from the 121 million to 122 million, as shopping online becomes more convenient than ever before, said the NRF. A lot can happen before then, but the stats don’t lie – there are still scores of people around the world who believe Thanksgiving week is the time to be thankful for big discounts.

“I’ll go buy it online”, said Ollearis, 24. “I only came for a Swiffer and toothpaste, and I’m leaving with a bit more than that”. Joyce Hill, a 67-year-old retired auto worker from Inkster, Michigan, who was also shopping in Chicago.

Unemployment rates hit their lowest in eight years in October and hourly wages this year saw their biggest increase since 2009, boosting consumers’ confidence and spending.

“I’ll spend less because you don’t know what’s going to happen”.