Black Friday quieter as US consumers shop online
Print Edition
MALL crowds in the United States were relatively thin on Black Friday in a sign of what has become the new normal in holiday shopping: the mad rush is happening the night of Thanksgiving and more consumers are picking up deals online.
Across the US, shoppers were greeted by protesters at hundreds of stores — some calling for higher wages at Wal-Mart Stores, others protesting the decision of a grand jury not to indict a white police officer in the August shooting of an 18-year-old unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri.
Most big retailers now open on Thursday evenings and have extended their holiday deals beyond a single day.
The result is a quieter experience on a day that has traditionally kicked off the holiday shopping season, and often drawn chaotic crowds.
Black Friday has ranked as the busiest US shopping day in terms of sales and traffic since 2005, according to ShopperTrak.
But as demand shifts to Thursday and even earlier in the month, the research firm predicts that “Super Saturday” on December 20 will be the most active day this year.
“It just looks like any other weekend,” said Angela Olivera, a 32-year-old housewife shopping for children’s clothing at the Westfarms Mall near Hartford, Connecticut.
“The kind of crowds we usually see are missing and this is one of the biggest malls here. I think people are just not spending a lot.”
The crowds normally reserved for Black Friday morning appeared on Thursday night. For instance, more than 15,000 people lined up for the opening of Macy’s flagship store in New York on Thursday. Retailers also said they were capturing more of the holiday budget online.
Workers protest
In downtown Chicago, police arrested 11 people associated with workers’ rights group OUR Walmart for blocking traffic in front of a Wal-Mart store. The protest was one of 1,600 planned across the US by the group, which is pushing for higher wages and benefits for employees.
“Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart you’re no good. Treat your workers like you should,” a crowd shouted outside the store.
Company spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said: “The crowds are mostly made up of paid union demonstrators and do not represent the views of the 1.3 million associates” who work for the company, the largest private employer in the US.
Buchanan said also that one of the demonstrators hit a customer at the Chicago store, prompting a complaint to the police.
OUR Walmart representative Georges Tounou said the group carried out its protest peacefully.
According to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, overall Black Friday online sales were up 8 percent from last year, while online sales on Thanksgiving Day were up 14.3 percent.
Wal-Mart said Thursday was its second-highest online sales day ever after last year’s Cyber Monday, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving, when online retailers promote bargains.
Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell said his company rang up a record day of online sales on Thursday, and was seeing brisk demand in its stores. He said the company sold 1,800 TVs a minute between 6pm and 8pm on Thursday.
Some shoppers said the price of gasoline could make them more inclined to spend.
“My budget is pretty tight this year and gas is a tremendous expense,” said Kristen Akeley, 46.
“My gas bill has fallen from US$150 a week to US$80 a week and that is a big saving at this time of the year.”
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