The month of November has not been kind to a number of Americans. Major companies have laid off thousands of employees. Inflation has led many households to spend more than they typically would. Not to mention, unemployment claims rose to 240,000 just last month. Despite all of this, National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay made a bold prediction just a few days before the holiday break began.
“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” Shay stated.
“We are optimistic that retail sales will remain strong in the weeks ahead, and retailers are ready to meet consumers however they want to shop with great products at prices they want to pay.”
As it turns out, Shay was more than correct. In 2021, online shoppers generated $8.92 billion in sales on Black Friday. This year, online Black Friday sales rose to a record high of $9.12 billion. Shoppers have been able to alleviate spending large lump sums of money during times of economic strife by turning toward buy now, pay later services. According to Adobe Analytics, buy now, pay later orders spiked 78% this week compared to the previous week. Furthermore, revenue from these sales is up 81% in the same period.
The momentum of Black Friday is expected to carry through Monday. More than half of the U.S. population is expected to shop either in-person or online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. That is the highest prediction the NRF has made since it began tracking data five years ago.
