Consumers expected to spend more on Black Friday this year

Black Friday to be less wild this year

The National Retail Federation predicts that Americans will spend between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion during the holiday season. This is an increase from previous year, when Thanksgiving sales reached a record $889.3 billion. A 6% to 8% year-over-year growth projection is lower than the 13.5% yearly increase. In 2021 customers had government subsidies from the pandemic to spend. However, individuals are not ready to go as wild this Black Friday compared to past years.

Countless number of people will purchase from the convenience of their homes. A 10% to 12% increase in online and other non-store sales. Between $262.8 billion and $267.6 billion in sales is anticipated.

People should still remain cautious on how much to spend. The government reported last month that the personal saving rate decreased to 3.3% in the third quarter. This is a proportion of disposable income from the savings. The decrease was 0.1% in the preceding quarter.

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The FIFA World Cup is another factor driving Black Friday spending this year. In addition inflation and low economic confidence also drives shopping down. A global focus on the games, according to some retailers, may have a detrimental effect on Black Friday weekend shopping. According to an IMRG poll, 34% of 118 shops believe that it will cause less buying. The World Cup theme should be incorporated into marketing campaigns, promotions, and customer experiences if shops and e-commerce sites are clever. This would benefit especially those in the clothes, sporting goods, and electronics industries.

Due to the reopening of economies, enterprises, and tourists, Europeans have had an overall increase in their buying power. Expandable income since 2021 increased according to a GfK survey in Europe to €16,344 per year. This is up 5.8% over the previous year. However, there are significant disparities in certain nations’ spending capacities. For instance, Liechtenstein has a purchasing power per capita of €66,204 whereas Ukraine has a purchasing power per capita of €1,540. While spending power has increased, not all Europeans may be aware of it or experiencing it.

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This may be seen in the fact that holiday spending has decreased year over year in several European nations, including Spain, whose buying power was lower than the continental average.

Gen Z is more demanding of Black Friday deals

Black Friday is the preferred day of the year for retailers to get rid of stock at exorbitant discounts. Some age groups, like Gen Zers (born 1997–2012), demand that retailers give them at least a 41–50% discount in order to participate. Baby boomers, Gen X, and the other older age groups, including Millennials, need discounts of between 21 and 30 % before they will consider purchasing.

The logical explanation is that Gen Z consumers have less disposable income than older age groups. Since they are frequently enrolled in high school, university, or have just started their careers, they have less money to spend.

Black Friday becomes “Black November”

Global brands and shops (both online and offline) have turned a one-day event into days and weeks of Black November promotions, either to draw in foot traffic or to get rid of stock levels. Globally, we can observe that the traditional shopping day has changed over the years, first with the advent of Cyber Monday and then with the quick transition to online purchasing amid Covid-19 lockdowns.

Black Friday weekend sales dropped from 186 million in 2020 to 179 million in 2021. This demonstrates once more how customers are preferring to take advantage of discounts and offers early. In particular, Target began its Black Friday promotions in mid-October, more than a month before the actual sale. With its October Prime Day, Amazon teased customers as a prelude to Black Friday. With discounts ranging from 15 to 50% off, Adidas and Nike introduced their tactics more than a week before the event.