AP

Stores usher Black Friday with easier ways to get deals

Nov 23, 2018, 7:23 AM

NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers aren’t just ushering the official start of the holiday season with the usual expanded hours and fat discounts on big TVs and toys.
They’re offering new ways for shoppers to get deals online and in the store easier and faster in the age of instant gratification.

Walmart introduced a digital map on its mobile app to make it easier for shoppers to find an item’s exact location in the store. Kohl’s has a new feature on its mobile app that lets customers take photos of products anywhere and find similar items at the department store. And customers, frustrated with long checkout lines, can check out at Walmart and other stores with a salesperson right on the spot.

Shoppers are also facing new free shipping options. Target leapt in front of Walmart and Amazon to offer two-day free shipping for the holidays without any minimum purchases. Online leader Amazon followed, dropping its $25 minimum. Walmart is still sticking with its $35 threshold.

“Retailers are pulling out all the stops to get shoppers earlier with online deals and using online to push shoppers in the store,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry adviser at the NPD Group, a market research group. “I think overall spending will be decent.”

Macy’s was pushing such door buster deals as 70 percent discounts on cookware and 40 percent off of boots. As of early morning Friday, Macy’s Herald Square, which opened all night, had a steady stream of shoppers, mostly tourists.

“We got here at 4:30 a.m. We couldn’t go to sleep so we went shopping,” said Shane Wilson, who arrived in Manhattan from London on Wednesday. She was buying shoes and boots at 40 percent off. She said her next stop was Bloomingdale’s.

Nicole Battini, from Bologna, Italy showed up with a friend at Macy’s at 5 a.m. after a night of clubbing. Battini, who arrived in New York earlier this week, was looking for shoes, a handbag and a coat. Then she said she was going to sleep.

“Tomorrow, we go back to clubbing,” she said.

Still, Black Friday isn’t what it used to be. It has morphed from a single day when people got up early to score door busters into a whole month of deals. Many major stores, including Walmart,

Best Buy and Macy’s, start their blockbuster deals on Thanksgiving evening, which has consequently thinned out the crowds.

Black Friday is nonetheless expected to be the biggest shopping day of the year, according to ShopperTrak, a technology company. And analysts say Black Friday sales should be even bigger than a year ago. They are expected to hit $23 billion on Friday, up from $21 billion during the same year-ago period, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks all forms of payment, including cash.

With the jobless rate at a five-decade low of 3.7 percent and consumer confidence at an 18-year high, analysts project healthy sales increases for November and December. The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, is expecting holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — to increase as much as 4.8 percent over 2017 for a total of $720.89 billion. The sales growth marks a slowdown from last year’s 5.3 percent, which was the largest gain since 2010. But the figure is still healthy.
Adobe Analytics, which analyzes visits to retail websites, predicts a 15 percent increase in online sales to $124.1 billion for November and December.

Adobe said late Thursday that Thanksgiving should reach a record $3.7 billion in online retail sales, up 29 percent from the same year ago period. As of 5 p.m. Thursday, shoppers spent $1.75 billion online, a nearly 29 percent increase from a year ago. It expects $38.0 billion will have been spent online between Nov. 1 through Thursday, a nearly 19 percent increase from a year ago.

Target said early Friday morning that more shoppers shopped using the Target app, ordering more than double compared to last year. Overall, shoppers bought such big ticket items as TVs, iPads, and Apple Watches. Among the most popular toy deals were Lego, L.O.L. Surprise from MGA Entertainment and Mattel’s Barbie. It said gamers picked up video game consoles like Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

Amazon in the U.S. is expected to outgrow the market and capture up to half of all e-commerce sales by the end of the year, according to consulting firm Bain & Co.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Send it to the KSL NewsRadio team here.

AP

Former US President and current GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump...

MICHAEL R. SISAK, Associated Press

Trump’s lawyers say it is impossible for him to post bond covering $454 million civil fraud judgment

Trump's lawyers said “obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented."

8 hours ago

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohi...

MEG KINNARD and JILL COLVIN Associated Press

Trump ramps up dark rhetoric in Ohio stump speech for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno

Former President Donald Trump claimed that he — not President Joe Biden — will protect Social Security and warned of a "bloodbath" if he loses in November as he campaigned for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio.

13 hours ago

Local resident Yevhen, 34, looks at his home in an apartment house damaged in 2022 heavy battles wi...

Associated Press

With the election behind him, Putin says Russian forces aim to set up a buffer zone inside Ukraine

Tune in to Dave & Dujnovic!  Russian President Vladimir Putin said after extending his rule in an election that stifled opposition that Moscow will not relent in its invasion of Ukraine and plans to create a buffer zone along the border to help protect against long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids. The Kremlin’s forces have […]

14 hours ago

An array of hats decorated for St. Patrick's Day is displayed at a park in New Orleans during an Ir...

KEVIN McGILL Associated Press

When it’s St. Patrick’s Day in New Orleans, get ready to catch a cabbage

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The grandly colonnaded old city hall was designed by an Irish architect. A neighborhood near the wharves is still known as the Irish Channel. Landmark towers and spires of Catholic churches built for Irish immigrants dot the skyline. New Orleans is well known for a culture that evolved from early French […]

2 days ago

McDonald's global system outage...

COURTNEY BONNELL, AP

McDonald’s apologizes for global system outage that shut down some stores for hours

McDonald's apologized Friday for a global technology outage that shuttered some restaurants for hours.

3 days ago

Law enforcement should have seized a man's guns and put him in protective custody weeks before he c...

PATRICK WHITTLE, STEVE LeBLANC and NICK PERRY, AP

Law enforcement should have seized man’s guns weeks before he killed 18 in Maine, report finds

Police should have seized a man's guns weeks before he committed Maine's deadliest mass shooting, a report found Friday.

3 days ago

Sponsored Articles

Mother and cute toddler child in a little fancy wooden cottage, reading a book, drinking tea and en...

Visit Bear Lake

How to find the best winter lodging in Bear Lake, Utah

Winter lodging in Bear Lake can be more limited than in the summer, but with some careful planning you can easily book your next winter trip.

Happy family in winter clothing at the ski resort, winter time, watching at mountains in front of t...

Visit Bear Lake

Ski more for less: Affordable ski resorts near Bear Lake, Utah

Plan your perfect ski getaway in Bear Lake this winter, with pristine slopes, affordable tickets, and breathtaking scenery.

front of the Butch Cassidy museum with a man in a cowboy hat standing in the doorway...

Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

Looking Back: The History of Bear Lake

The history of Bear Lake is full of fascinating stories. At over 250,000 years old, the lake has seen generations of people visit its shores.

silhouette of a family looking over a lake with a bird in the top corner flying...

Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

8 Fun Activities To Do in Bear Lake Without Getting in the Water

Bear Lake offers plenty of activities for the whole family to enjoy without having to get in the water. Catch 8 of our favorite activities.

Wellsville Mountains in the spring with a pond in the foreground...

Wasatch Property Management

Advantages of Renting Over Owning a Home

Renting allows you to enjoy luxury amenities and low maintenance without the long-term commitment and responsibilities of owning a home.

Clouds over a red rock vista in Hurricane, Utah...

Wasatch Property Management

Why Southern Utah is a Retirement Paradise

Retirement in southern Utah offers plenty of cultural and recreational opportunities. Find out all that this region has to offer.

Stores usher Black Friday with easier ways to get deals