nike store
Shoppers walk up and down the stairs in a Nike store on Black Friday, Nov. 25, 2022, in New York.
U.S. shoppers spent a record $9.12 billion online on Black Friday, a report showed Saturday, as consumers weathered the squeeze from high inflation and grabbed steep discounts on everything from smartphones to toys.


Comment: This may be revealing, because other news reports have stated that, prior to Black Friday, sales were down and stockrooms were full of inventory that needed shifting. So people may have been taking advantage of these steep discounts whereas the stores themselves are losing out on sorely needed profit.

The following chart from NPR shows how sales for this time of year might be 'record breaking', but in fact they're stagnating. It's telling that the reporting gives a much more positive, 'record breaking sales', spin:

black friday sales
© Ashley Ahn/NPRSource: Adobe Analytics

Online spending rose 2.3% on Black Friday, Adobe Inc's data and insights arm Adobe Analytics said, thanks to consumers holding out for discounts until the traditionally big shopping days, despite deals starting as early as October.

Adobe Analytics, which measures e-commerce by analyzing transactions at websites, has access to data covering purchases at 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the United States.

It had forecast Black Friday sales to rise a modest 1%.

Adobe expects Cyber Monday to be the season's biggest online shopping day again, driving $11.2 billion in spending.

Consumers were expected to flock to stores after the pandemic put a dampener on in-store shopping over the past two years, but Black Friday morning saw stores draw less traffic than usual with sporadic rain in some parts of the country.


Comment: Rain never stopped shoppers before.


Americans turned to smartphones to make their holiday purchases, with data from Adobe showing mobile shopping represented 48% of all Black Friday digital sales.