Al and Jenna Carfora, of Bayside, were among the early-bird Black Friday shoppers Thursday at Target in Westbury. Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
The annual tradition of Americans hitting stores to buy electronics and clothes, one day after expressing thanks for all they have, is here again.
More than 164 million consumers are expected to shop today -- Black Friday -- the second day in a five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday that includes some of the biggest shopping days of the year. It's projected to be part of a strong 2018 holiday shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
Foot traffic results from Thanksgiving weren't in as of Thursday night, but sales at brick-and-mortar stores have been on the decline for several years as online shopping grows.
In fact, while Black Friday will be the biggest day for foot traffic in stores during the season, the biggest day for in-store sales revenue will be Dec. 22, which is the Saturday before Christmas, according to RetailNext, a San Jose-based retail analytics company.
If Thanksgiving shopping is any indication, however, online sales through Monday will hit unprecedented numbers.
Thursday’s online sales as of 5 p.m. were $1.75 billion, an increase of 28.6 percent from that time period last year, and were expected to reach a record $3.7 billion, up 29 percent from the day in 2017, according to Adobe Analytics, a division of San Jose-based software company Adobe Inc.
The top products sold online included the Nintendo Switch, which was the most popular video gaming system, according to Adobe. Top toys online included Fingerlings Hugs, Little Live Pets and L.O.L Surprise.
HP laptops, Google's Chromecast streaming device and drones were the best-selling electronics online Thursday, according to Adobe.
Stores that will do well this holiday season include off-price retailers, such as TJ Maxx and its sister store, Marshalls, as well as warehouse clubs and home improvement stores, said Ray Hartjen, spokesman for RetailNext.
Popular items on wish lists this year will be beauty products, and of course, toys, which drive store traffic, he said.
The National Retail Federation is projecting national retail sales in November and December to increase between 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent — or to between $717.45 billion and $720.89 billion — over sales in that period last year.
But the actual sales results that will come in late December and January won’t paint a true picture of how well retailers did because they don’t take into account what businesses spent on the goods or what they lost from discounts, said Charlie O’Shea, lead retail analyst at Manhattan-based Moody’s Corp., a financial services company.
“Sales results are the appetizers. The real meal comes when [companies] actually announce their earnings,” he said.
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