U.S. Thanksgiving, Black Friday store sales fall, online rises
U.S. Thanksgiving, Black Friday store sales fall, online
rises
By Siddharth Cavale November 26, 2016
(Reuters) - Sales and traffic at U.S. brick-and-mortar
stores on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday declined from last year, as stores
offered discounts well beyond the weekend and more customers shopped online.
Internet sales rose in the double digits on both days,
surpassing $3 billion for the first time on Black Friday, according to data
released on Saturday.
Data from analytics firm RetailNext showed net sales at
brick-and-mortar stores fell 5.0 percent over the two days, while the number of
transactions fell 7.9 percent.
Preliminary data from retail research firm ShopperTrak
showed that shopper visits to such stores fell a combined 1 percent during
Thanksgiving and Black Friday when compared with the same days in 2015.
The data highlights the waning importance of Black
Friday, which until a few years ago kicked off the holiday shopping season, as
more retailers start discounting earlier in the month and opened their doors on
Thanksgiving Day.
"We knew it (holiday season) was going to be off to
a slow start," Shelley Kohan, vice president of retail consulting at
RetailNext, said.
"The first couple of weeks with the election were a
complete distracter from the normal course of business and...a warmer climate
in November may have made the sales more stubborn," she said, adding that
she saw sales picking up in December.
Net sales on Black Friday slid 10.4 percent for
brick-and-mortar chains, according to RetailNext.
"Stores that opened on Thursday were not very busy
on Black Friday,... and while the Thanksgiving Day opt-outs were busier on
Black Friday, they didn't see the crowds they saw in previous years," NPD
group's Chief Industry analyst Marshal Cohen said.
ONLINE SALES SHINE
Still, total holiday season sales are expected to jump
3.6 percent to $655.8 billion this year, according to the National Retail
Federation, due to a tightening job market.
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.
Consumers are expected to spend $636 on average on
holiday purchases this year, up 3 percent from their 2015 spending plans,
according to NPD.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday online sales tracked by
Adobe Digital Index were $5.27 billion, up 18 percent from a year earlier and
higher than its prior estimate of $5.05 billion.
Black Friday sales rose 21.6 percent to $3.34 billion,
with purchases made on mobile devices contributing more than $1 billion in
revenue, both record sales for the day.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by
Jonathan Oatis and Andrew Hay)
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