More Americans went to stores for « Black Friday ». 126 million of them physically visited a store to make their purchases during the five days of promotions. A figure up 3.8% compared to last year.
They were also more numerous than in 2019 (124 million), the last year before the pandemic, according to figures published Tuesday by the National Retail Federation (NRF), which takes into account the period between the holiday of Thanksgiving (November 28) and « Cyber Monday »the equivalent of « Black Friday » on the internet.
This is a sign of a return of the appetite for shopping after the Covid years, said NRF President Matthew Shay during a telephone press briefing. Like every year, the day of « Black Friday » took place the day after Thanksgiving, a public holiday in the United States.
Kick-off of Black Friday: textiles made in France at a turning point
124 million Americans have purchased online
In total, 197 million people opened their wallets. This figure is slightly lower than last year’s 200.4 million, which was a record, but it is the second highest total. However, the 124.3 million American residents who made an online purchase during the five days were fewer than in 2023 (-7.4%).
Paradoxically, fewer American consumers buy online but they spend more, with a record amount of 10.8 billion dollars on Friday for the « Black Friday »Adobe Analytics announced on Saturday. This total amount of sales is 10.2% higher than in 2023.
“Crossing the $10 billion mark is an important milestone for e-commerce on Black Friday, a day that in the past was more focused on in-store purchases”commented Vivek Pandya, analyst for Adobe Digital Insights.
This year it is not inflation which is mechanically increasing the total amount of sales, but rather an increase in demand, specifies Adobe, which emphasizes that “e-commerce prices fell consecutively for 26 months (down 2.9% year-on-year in October 2024)”.
Over the entire « Cyber Week » A total of $40.6 billion is expected to be spent online, up 7% from last year, and representing 16.9% of sales for the entire holiday season, Adobe estimates .
Black Friday: our tips for deciphering the labels
“More thoughtful” purchases
This year, consumers are nevertheless showing “more thoughtful” in their purchases, scalded by the surge in prices in recent years, explained Matthew Shay. However, their purchasing power is recovering with the recent slowdown in prices and salary increases, added the manager, for whom “consumers are generally in a good mood”.
Matthew Shay said consumers have not yet changed their shopping habits in anticipation of possible additional tariffs promised by President-elect Donald Trump. The NRF warned that the effective imposition of these tariffs could reduce the purchasing power of Americans by $78 billion per year. The professional organization expects an increase of between 2.5% and 3.5% in holiday spending (between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day), which could bring it up to $989 billion.
(With AFP)
