NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Retailers used giveaways and big discounts to reward U.S. shoppers who ventured out for even as earlier offers, the prospect of better bargains in the days ahead and the ease of e-commerce drained much of the excitement from the holiday shopping season's much-hyped kickoff.
Frequent deals throughout the month and more awaiting on Cyber Monday gave consumers less of a reason to squabble over store shelves while trying to get their hands on TVs or toys. But shopping malls and merchants big and small used the to into physical stores at a time when many prefer to browse and buy online.
Some Target shoppers lined up as early as 11:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to get their hands on an exclusive book devoted to Taylor Swift鈥檚 and a bonus edition of her album. Although both will be available purchase online starting Saturday, many locations sold out their supply of the products, the discount retailer said.
At a Target in Southfield, Michigan, a few miles north of Detroit, Marge Evans, 32, used her cellphone to take and send photos of shirts, sweaters and other apparel with Black Friday markdowns. Her shopping cart was full, but she was shopping for an upcoming cruise with her fiance, not Christmas.
鈥淚鈥檒l see what things are looking like the first week in January,鈥� the 32-year-old massage therapist said. 鈥淩eally, after the holidays are over is when the real deals come through. They get rid of everything.鈥�
Industry analysts observed Black Friday shoppers displaying the same choosy, deal-driven behavior many U.S. consumers exhibited all year while adjusting prices after the period of inflation that started toward the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
At many stores, the huge crowds of Black Fridays past never returned after the pandemic. A Walmart in Germantown, Maryland, had only half of the parking spots filled on Friday morning. Some shoppers were returning items or buying groceries.
Bharatharaj Moruejsan, a 35-year-old software engineer, decided to check out Walmart's offers because he was jet-lagged after returning from a month-long family vacation to India. He scored an iPad for his 1-year-old daughter for $250, 32% off its original $370 price tag.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a good deal,鈥� Moruejsan said.
After visiting stores and shopping centers on Long Island, Marshal Cohen, chief retail adviser at market research firm Circana, said that apart from people lining up for Target's Taylor Swift merchandise, the number of shoppers appeared typical.
鈥淭he spreading out of the holidays has created the lack of need and lack of urgency,鈥� said Cohen, who had a 20-person team monitoring crowds nationwide. 鈥淭his is going to be a long, slow tedious process鈥� of getting shoppers to buy, he said.
Michael Brown, a partner at management consulting firm Kearney, saw no lines at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, 10 minutes before the 7 a.m. opening.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the old Black Friday that we used to know,鈥� he said.
Retailers that offered at least 40% off drove shoppers鈥� attention, according to Brown. For example, Forever 21 had 50% to 70% discounts and had lines to the stores, while H&M, which offered 30% discounts, was relatively quiet.
Enough consumers still enjoy holiday shopping in person that Black Friday nonetheless was expected to retain its crown remains the biggest day of the year for retail foot traffic in the U.S., according to retail technology company Sensormatic Solutions.
At Macy鈥檚 Herald Square in Manhattan, the setting for the 1947 Christmas movie 鈥淢iracle on 34th Street,鈥� a steady stream of shoppers early Friday found some shoes and handbags priced half-off, special occasion dresses marked down by 30%, and 60% off the store's luxury bedding brand.
Keressa Clark, 50, and her daughter Morghan, 27, who were visiting New York from Wilmington, North Carolina, arrived at 6:15 a.m.
鈥淚 am actually shocked to see so many Black Friday deals because so many things are online,鈥� Morghan Clark said.
Karessa Clark, who works as a nurse practitioner, said President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 pending return to the White House made her feel better about . She plans to spend $2,000 this holiday season, about $500 more than a year ago.
Julie Rambo, a retired school teacher, shoved aside her worries about the incoming Trump administration as she shopped with her grandchildren at the Target in Southfield, Michigan.
Rambo, 74, said she was 鈥渢otally, completely scared of tariffs because I鈥檓 still going to need an automobile,鈥� but it was a problem to confront later. As she does each year, she was primarily looking for Christmas gifts through a prison ministry for children with parents who are incarcerated.
鈥淎s we鈥檙e shopping, we find things for ourselves too,鈥� Rambo said.
Online sales figures from Thanksgiving Day gave retailers a reason to remain hopeful for a lucrative end to the year.
Vivek Pandya, the lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said consumers鈥痵pent a record $6.1 billion online Thursday, 8.8% more than on Thanksgiving last year. Bigger-than-expected discounts helped spur spending on electronics, apparel and other categories, Pandya said.
Across the board, Black Friday weekend discounts should peak at 30% on Cyber Monday and then retreat to around 15%, according to Adobe鈥檚 research.
Analysts forecast a solid holiday shopping season overall in the U.S., though perhaps not as robust as . Retailers were even more under the gun to get shoppers in to and in bulk since there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
Shoppers at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie, Louisiana, were treated to a glass of champagne and a $50 gift receipt.
鈥淭his is a nice touch. I was just talking to my best friend and rehashing over Thanksgiving so this was a nice little treat after that conversation. Everyone needs a little drink,鈥� said Faren Kennedy, a Houston resident who was in town visiting family and wanted to stop at the mall for the nostalgia of Black Friday shopping.
At Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, some 13,000 people showed up the first hour of its 7 a.m. opening, roughly 1,000 more than a year ago, according to Jill Renslow, the mall鈥檚 chief business development and marketing officer.
The mall was on target to exceed the 200,000 Black Friday customer visits it received in 2023, Renslow said. Stores with deep discounts and promotions were the most packed, she said, citing Lego鈥檚 giveaway of a free retro record player with a $250 purchase.
Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of , which operates 85 shopping properties, and Bill Taubman, president and chief operating officer of upscale mall landlord Taubman Realty Group, also said customer visits were up.
Black Friday no longer is an American-only sales event. Retailers in Australia, sa国际传媒, France, Germany and the U.K. also appealed to holiday shoppers looking to save money.
In India, , rallied Friday in New Delhi, some wearing masks of chief Jeff Bezos, to demand better wages and working conditions. Similar protests were planned in other countries.
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Hadero reported from Germantown, Maryland. Stephen Smith in New Orleans and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this story.
Anne D'innocenzio, Haleluya Hadero And Alexandra Olson, The Associated Press
