Shoppers Chose Clicks Over Bricks During Black Friday Weekend
Brick-and-mortar retailers left no stone unturned when it came to offering discounts and incentives aimed to lure customers to the store over Thanksgiving weekend. But despite their best efforts, shoppers flocked to the net to spend their dollars.
Early predictions show U.S. consumers spent $7.9B in online Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales, an increase of 17.9% from the year before. Online retailers are expected to bring in an additional $6.6B on Cyber Monday, Reuters reports.
But not all hope is lost when it comes to brick-and-mortar. Retailers and investors are looking to the strong labor market and rising house prices as a positive indication that sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas will continue to climb. This is a pivotal period for many retailers as it can account for up to 40% of total annual sales, Reuters reports.
Many retailers saw shares rise on Black Friday, including Amazon, which hit a record high and increased by 2.6%. Even Macy’s, which has been struggling in recent months, stock increased 2.1%, while Gap Inc. saw a 1.6% rise in share price and Kohl’s rose 1%.
