Black Friday Sees A Record Number Of Shoppers Despite Inflation

According to the National Retail Federation, 182 million people will shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday.

Despite some shoppers feeling like the Black Friday deals are not quite what they used to be, consumers were expected to spend an average of $567 between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

According to CBS News, a Deloitte report indicates the amount is 13% more than last year.

Retailers have offered better sales and deeper discounts to attract customers, hoping to offset higher inflation and credit card rates. According to Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, “Cyber Week is off to a strong start, with Thanksgiving driving a record $5.6 billion in online spend as consumers took advantage of strong discounts and continued their shopping plans, virtually.”

Despite the spending, many Americans are worried about the cost of rent and groceries outstripping their income.

Neil Saunders, retail analyst at GlobalData Retail, told CBS News those worries made consumers wary of spending. Consumers are “a lot more cautious about spending” as well as “more receptive to bargains.” To him, that meant they would spend money on Black Friday.

Black Friday set a record in the US with $9.8 billion in online sales, up 7.5% from a year ago.

• $5.3 billion was spent by mobile shoppers
• $79 million was from consumers who used a "buy now, pay later" method, up 47% from last year pic.twitter.com/dWSgbzf8gv
— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) November 26, 2023

According to Reuters, Black Friday deals on toys, games, and hobby gear saw their best deals since 2020. Men’s suits, outerwear, and sport coats were 8-14% cheaper than they were pre-pandemic; women’s dresses and audio equipment saw a similar discount.

At least half of shoppers will take advantage of the sales, planning to complete their holiday shopping during the four-day sales window. Additionally, according to the National Retail Federation, 182 million people will shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, the most since 2017. Shoppers are also planning to avoid the crowds, spending more ($169) on online shopping than in stores ($138) on Black Friday.

On Twitter/X, many also took time to highlight the various demonstrations against Black Friday shopping as Israel and Hamas declared a temporary cessation in fighting which was urged by the United States. Many users noted that it coincided with Thanksgiving and the Black Friday consumer holiday.