Is Black Friday Becoming Ho-Hum?
As Black Friday starts to blur with Thanksgiving and more advertisements continue to surround the day, the meaning of Black Friday is no longer as important and some retailers are even choosing to opt out.
SAN FRANCISCO—Retail sales in October reflect a year-over-year increase of 5.6%, according to the National Retail Federation. The figures reflect “a healthy pace of spending and a sign of ongoing consumer strength, which is consistent with the state of the US economy,” says Jack Kleinhenz, National Retail Federation chief economist.
And, US online retailers generated $120.45 billion in the second quarter, a 15.4% increase compared with $104.41 billion in second quarter 2017, according to a Department of Commerce report released this week. This is a slightly lower growth rate than e-commerce for 2017 as a whole when US online sales increased 16% to reach $453.46 billion.
It’s also a slightly lower growth rate than the first quarter, when online sales from US merchants increased 16.4%. Moreover, total retail and food services sales grew 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department. All of these statistics are reported on a non-adjusted basis.
These numbers are noteworthy as US shoppers prepare to converge on retailers for Black Friday at the end of the week. San Francisco-based Anjee Solanki, national director of US retail services at Colliers International, weighed in on what consumers and retailers can expect from a retail standpoint this holiday season.
She says Black Friday sales aren’t that different from the rest of the sales during the holiday season. With Black Friday promising consumers deeper discounts and additional offers such as free shipping, sales won’t really change with retailers’ other planned sales.
Accordingly, sales are becoming ho-hum, Solanki points out. In other words, the allure of Black Friday is beginning to wane. As Black Friday starts to blur with the Thanksgiving holiday and more advertisements continue to surround the day, the meaning of Black Friday is no longer as important as it once was. Some retailers are even choosing to opt out because of the extreme pressure and costs that come with it, she says.
But, Solanki says there will be more people in stores on Black Friday this time around.
“After several years of decline of shoppers visiting physical stores, we anticipate a nice increase of approximately 3% this year as to how many shoppers will visit stores this Black Friday,” she tells GlobeSt.com. “Why? Most interesting is shoppers who are more affluent or confident or impulse buying. Also dining out will also drive many trips to centers, promoting impromptu shopping.”
Another piece of the equation is how Millennials take traditions with a grain of salt. While Black Friday is viewed by many as a social event, Millennials tend to be more adventurous on days off–making shopping online on Cyber Monday more convenient for their schedules.