Retailers around the world are hoping millions of shoppers will take advantage of Black Friday discounts in the kickoff to the key holiday shopping season, against a backdrop of financial pressure on households in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.
With many consumers squeezed by persistent inflation and higher interest rates, U.S. holiday spending is expected to rise at the slowest pace in five years. Most major retailers slashed their seasonal hiring.
A record 130.7 million people are expected to shop in stores and online in the U.S. on Black Friday this year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates. The event is known for crowds lining up at big-box stores at dawn to scoop up discounted TVs and home appliances.
But at 6 a.m. on Friday at a Walmart in New Milford, Connecticut, the parking lot was only half full.
“It’s a lot quieter this year, a lot quieter,” said shopper Theresa Forsberg, who visits the same five stores with her family at dawn every Black Friday. She was at a nearby Kohl’s store at 5 a.m.
In a line of shoppers outside Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan, Hannah Lusk, from Kentucky, who was visiting New York for Christmas, said she plans to spend the same as last year, adding that “it depends on what we need,” as shopping has become more expensive.
U.S. shoppers plan to spend an average $875 on holiday purchases — $42 more than last year — with clothing, gift cards and toys at the top of most shopping lists, according to a survey of 8,424 adults conducted in early November by the NRF, a U.S. retail trade group.
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