By Suzanne Kapner and Sarah Nassauer
Retailers dangled hefty discounts in their stores -- after
offering earlier deals on their websites -- as they waged a
high-stakes battle with Amazon.com Inc. and other rivals to capture
as much spending as they could during the Black Friday shopping
spree.
Shoppers arrived in the predawn hours Friday, following millions
of Americans who left family Thanksgiving gatherings Thursday to
visit malls and shopping centers. They scooped up flat-screen
Samsung televisions, Hatchimals toys and other gifts that retailers
have been promoting for days -- but often had their smartphones in
hand to check prices.
"So far, the most encouraging trend we are seeing is that while
door-busters continue to be important, once guests are there, they
are shopping multiple categories," Target Corp. chief Brian Cornell
said late Thursday.
For brick-and-mortar retailers, the challenge is to draw more
shoppers into their stores on a chaotic day often marred by long
lines and crowded parking lots.
Last year, more people shopped online than in stores during the
Thanksgiving weekend, according to the National Retail
Federation.
On Friday morning, Macy's Inc. CEO Terry Lundgren said he was
seeing more opportunity to grow sales as a whole this holiday
season, compared with last year when online gains came at the
expense of physical stores. "This year, there is more opportunity
to grow the pie," Mr. Lundgren said. "Last year, when business was
challenging, the pie was being divided in more ways."
RetailNext Inc., which collects data through analytics software
it provides to retailers, said online sales increased 14% on
Thanksgiving compared with the same day a year ago, while sales at
brick-and-mortar stores fell nearly 18%. RetailNext attributed the
drop in sales at physical stores to fewer stores opening on
Thanksgiving.
Marshal Cohen, retail analyst at NPD, said he saw evidence that
Thanksgiving openings and online deals were stealing business from
Black Friday. "In the 40 years I've studied Black Friday, I've
never seen the crowds this soft on Friday morning; parking wasn't
an issue, and lines were shorter than any weekend in October," he
wrote.
By 5:30 a.m. Friday the crowds had thinned at the sprawling
Gateway Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., with employees appearing to
outnumber shoppers at several stores. "I don't miss the crazy,"
said Christine Aguirre, a 37-year-old office manager, as she pushed
a cart filled with two televisions and other goods at a Target on
Friday morning. "It's better now; it used to be so packed."
Although more people are doing holiday shopping online and know
that the same deals or better can be found there, many Black Friday
shoppers said they still wanted to try on clothes, shoes or
household items.
"I know you can get the deals online, but I don't think you get
the gratification," said Tara Christy, 34, who drove nearly two
hours with her cousin to shop in Kansas City. By 9 a.m. the crowds
had died down.
Retail CEOs credited a stronger economy and pent-up demand
following the presidential election for helping drive traffic to
stores. "With the election earlier in the month, things were soft,"
Kohl's Corp. chief Kevin Mansell said. "That put a lot of pressure
on this weekend. It looks like results will come in equal or better
to our expectations."
The executives cited strong sales of smartwatches and other
electronics such as videogame systems and TVs. Coats and other
winter goods got a lift from a cold snap that hit the East Coast
just before this year's Thanksgiving, said Jerry Storch, the CEO of
Hudson's Bay Co., which owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord &
Taylor.
But it was the sharply discounted goods that were the big draw.
J.C. Penney sold out of 200,000 pairs of diamond stud earrings
priced at $20 each.
Even though the chain doesn't make money on that item, shoppers
purchase other goods while in the store, "so you come out ahead,"
said Penney chief Marvin Ellison.
While some shoppers said they hit the stores out of tradition,
many consumers said they were largely focused on grabbing deeply
discounted items. Some shoppers said they went to brick-and-mortar
stores because they weren't confident they could get door-busters
online, even though they were offered.
"I try online every year, but it just hasn't worked; you can't
access everything online," said Betty Rasmus, 63, who arrived at
Best Buy in Spring, Texas, at 4:45 a.m. and was the first in line,
aiming to buy a 55-inch Sharp television for $250, about half
price, as well as two laptops.
Black Friday is no longer a one-day event. Promotions are
increasingly spread throughout November, as traditional retailers
try to match online rivals such as Amazon. They have been linking
their stores and websites more closely and are finding ways to
capitalize on the rise in mobile shopping.
Amazon said Friday that Thanksgiving was becoming one of the
biggest mobile shopping days on the site, with orders exceeding
both Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday last year. Wal-Mart said mobile
orders accounted for 60% of its Black Friday event sales that were
purchased online.
Others used their smartphones to avoid the stores altogether.
James Seatter, 24, purchased a vacuum cleaner on his phone from
Amazon and gifts for his father on BrooksBrothers.com. He plans to
continue his online shopping Monday. "I don't want to fight with
someone over a toaster oven at Wal-Mart," he said.
--Sharon Terlep, Bradley Olson and Annie Gasparro contributed to
this article.
Write to Suzanne Kapner at Suzanne.Kapner@wsj.com and Sarah
Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 26, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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