Despite traditionally being one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year, spending appears to be down as shoppers look for deals this holiday season.
For the entire holiday season, the National Retail Federation has predicted sales to increase by 3% to 4%, the slowest pace predicted by the expert group in the last five years. Last year, spending increased by 5.4% and 12.7% in 2021.
But this trend isn’t new to November and December, as consumers have already been cutting spending despite inflation cooling.
The research firm Cicana recently released data that showed consumers spent 7% less from mid-October to mid-November. Circana’s chief industry advisor, Marshal Cohen, shared with CNBC that Target and Macy’s have been among the biggest chains to be hit the hardest.
“Consumers have kind of held back,” Cohen told CNBC.
Now, retailers are preparing for less growth than usual as shoppers continue to catch their breath in an economy with high costs and low wages.
Richard Baum, the managing partner of Consumer Growth Partners, says that money is starting to run dry for lots of Americans.
“They had savings from stimulus checks that’s run off now,” Baum told The Post. “They do not have a lot of discretionary income to spend and have less this year than last year, even though inflation is starting to ease.”
Even more, consumers aren’t falling for “deals” offered by retailers.
Videos at Target have circulated social media, with shoppers showing TVs listed for the same price but advertised as “Black Friday” specials.
With deals at retail centers appearing to fall flat, more Americans are looking online for their shopping, not only for ease but also for savings.
Data from Adobe Analytics showed that on Thanksgiving Day, shoppers spent a record $5.6 billion, a 5.5% increase in online spending compared to last year, a predicted increase, Bloomberg reported.
Adobe reported that the top deals online on the holiday were for toys and electronics, marked down 28% and 27%, respectively.