WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the approach of Black Friday this week, it’s time for American consumers to display their cynicism.
In the United States, Black Friday is one of our biggest days for shopping and a treasured holiday tradition. Coming right after the Thanksgiving holiday, Black Friday kicks off the pre-Christmas shopping season by providing some of the best in-store and online deals for consumers.
But 62 percent of U.S. consumers believe that Black Friday is a scam, according to the U.S. Census Bureau surveys. Another 81 percent believe that there is too much consumerism associated with Black Friday in particular and the Christmas season in general.
While displays of holiday cynicism may be fashionable, they apparently won’t stop consumers from joining the fray. The Census says that its same surveys found that 80 percent of consumers planned to shop this holiday season.
About 155 million American shopped on Black Friday in 2021. That’s roughly 60 percent of the county’s adult population (258.3 million in the 2020 census).
But 88 million of those consumers – again, roughly half of them — reported that they exclusively shopped online.
But online shopping in 2021 was off slightly, according to a new report from Adobe Analytics, a nationwide data tracking service. Compared to $9 billion spent online on Black Friday in 2020, consumer spent only $8.9 billion in 2021.
But Adobe is still predicting that consumers will spend between $10.2 billion and $11.3 billion on Cyber Monday in 2022, making it the biggest day of online shopping this season.
In-store retailers are facing many challenges this year.
Inflation has driven up the cost of all goods by 8.2 percent since September of 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the cost of some items – food, for example – has risen more sharply than clothing, inflation is nevertheless reducing the size of traditional discounts that retailers can offer on big-ticket items on Black Friday.
Supply chain issues, including shipping backlogs and product shortages, made for a challenging holiday shopping season last year.
Those problems – including the war in the Ukraine; the price of oil and gas; and over-burdened supply lines from China – persist for some retailers. But others have adjusted their ordering strategies and timelines to compensate for likely hiccups, says Katherine Cullen of the National Retail Foundation.
But when people get out and shop on Black Friday, they shop big, according to Connor McMahon of Zippia.Com, another nationwide data tracking service.
On Black Friday, McMahon says, consumers cannot help but take advantage of all the discounts, often on big-ticket items, which increase their overall spending.
Zippia projects that 58 percent of American consumers will be out looking for those discounts on Black Friday and will spend an average of $430 each.
Despite shopping stereotypes, about 77 percent of men will participate in Black Friday shopping, compared to only 70 percent of women.
The overall haul from Black Friday in 2021 was about $27 billion, according to Zippia analysts, although nearly one-third of that amount ($8.9 billion) was recorded from online sales.
Retailers nationwide are praying that they will beat that record this Friday.