Americans were expected to open their wallets on Black Friday even after getting a jump on holiday spending in the weeks before, undaunted by higher prices and less generous discounts.
The day after the US Thanksgiving holiday has traditionally drawn consumers chasing deals in stores and online.
Almost two-thirds of Black Friday shoppers in the US planned to go to stores rather than shop online this year, up from 51 per cent in 2020, before coronavirus vaccines were widely available, according to a National Retail Federation survey.
In-store sales were up 42.9 per cent over last year as of Friday afternoon on the US east coast, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Total retail sales, excluding cars, rose 29.8 per cent, fuelled by apparel and department store sales.
Consumers were on track to spend between $8.8bn and $9.2bn online on Friday, according to Adobe Analytics, meaning that ecommerce sales could surpass the record $9bn spent last year. By Friday evening, online sales had reached $6.6bn. On Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday, ecommerce spending totalled $5.1bn,…
