US Black Friday spending in stores and online rose 3.4% year-over-year, data show

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

November 30, 2024 4:57 PM EST Updated 12 hours ago


Nov 30 (Reuters) - Black Friday spending in U.S. retail stores was muted this year in contrast to a more robust rise online, as bargain-hungry Americans skipped stores in favor of their phones and laptops, according to data from Mastercard and other data providers.

Sales at brick-and-mortar stores grew just 0.7% year-over-year, according to preliminary estimates by payments processor Mastercard, and were lower according to data firm Facteus. Yet U.S. e-commerce sales increased by a hefty 14.6% online, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, a metric measuring U.S. retail sales across the Mastercard payments network combined with estimates for cash and check payments.

The estimates aren't adjusted for inflation. "If you layer in inflation, in-store (spending) is even lower," said Jonathan Chin, co-founder and head of data at Facteus. The firm looked at spending patterns on debit and credit cards online and in stores on a seven-day rolling basis year-over-year.

Facteus said online sales grew 11.1% and in-store sales fell 5.4%. With inflation, those numbers drop to 8.5% online growth and an 8% in-store decline.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/black-friday-data-shows-us-shoppers-spent-108-bln-online-2024-11-30/

[Mike Niendorff]

1. People are buying early -- before the Trump tariffs arrive.

Seriously, electronics in particular are going up significantly starting in January, and everybody is getting ahead of it if they can. I certainly am. Pushed up a couple of necessary purchases because of it.


MDN

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Yup

although because Thanksgiving was really "late" this year, Black Friday was "late" too, so barely 4 weeks before Christmas.

[tanyev]

6. Yep, took my car in for state inspection in October, needed some expensive service then

and there was still more to be done that they said could wait a bit (it’s an older car). After the election I went back and said do the rest of it now. Gawd only knows how much parts will cost after Trump gets in.

[lapfog_1]

3. no matter about the shorter post black Friday season

and the concern about tariffs.

This really proves that the economy is totally destroyed... it's a goddam depression out there!!!

[Aussie105]

4. I'm not buying anything.

Terrible feeling, to be all wound up by weeks of media clamoring about 'big savings' only to find it is smoke and mirrors.

Promise myself every year not to get wound up, but it still happens.

Starting to hate this windup to Christmas. The true meaning of the season was hijacked by commercial interests a long time ago.

[Xipe Totec]

20. I bought a new pair of hiking shoes, online

I'm hiking seven miles a day so I basically wore my hiking shoes to base soles in one year. Other than that, I didn't see the need to buy anything else.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Buy what's durable in fit, form, function

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Sure hope folks stocked up on eggs. I don't participate in that excessive consumerism.

[Bengus81]

8. Screw em....they keep jacking those egg prices up like those fake BS increase during Covid

Then everyone need to STOP buying them. I will..........

[sinkingfeeling]

9. You don't believe 92 million hens dying of bird flu (H5N1) has anything to do with the price of eggs?

[Historic NY]

10. Credit card debit is fun....

sitting at home burning a hole in your wallet. No exercise in that..

[question everything]

11. But.. but, people cannot afford to buy groceries, we've heard

but they have funds to buy… stuff?

[DENVERPOPS]

12. This can be deceiving !!!!!!!!!!!!!

simply explained:

There are two means of accounting for growth in retail.....

#1 In dollars of sales

#2 In UNITS sold.

Higher "dollar sales" means NOTHING in periods of inflation.........

In my opinion, reporting: "higher sales" in this period of un-checked inflation, is pure propaganda......

[BumRushDaShow]

13. "Higher "dollar sales" means NOTHING in periods of inflation......... "

Except that "inflation" was MUCH higher a year ago than it is now, so if you look at that relationship and there is an INCREASE in (dollar) spending this year compared to last year, then that has a meaning that's not necessarily "inflation-" related.

[DENVERPOPS]

14. I agree

inflation was out of sight last year, but it is still present in 2024 to a lesser extent...........

I haven't trusted inflation figures/CPI index since Reagan did an overhaul of what was counted to lower the inflation figures when he was in office due to the incredible inflation figures. To lower inflation, he just changed what was counted....
Same thing he did to lower un-employment figures, he started counting the military, and other segments that were not counted previously.....The old Apples to Oranges trick....

[BumRushDaShow]

15. I think the "market basket" of goods probably should be adjusted

It's just like how seniors have been demanding that they use the CPI-U instead of the CPI-W to come up with the annual SS COLA (and I even saw there is an experimental "CPI-E" that takes into account and measures typical senior spending).

[richdj25]

16. Guess the price of eggs and gas

was really never an issue during the elections.

[Bozvotros]

17. You have that right.

It was just a meme to allow Christian Nazis, racists and misogynists to feel less grotesque about voting for an insane Nazi racist misogynist ignoramus. We can thank the MSM for spreading it near and far.

[AllyCat]

18. Gosh, just like that, the economy isn't an issue.

Amazing.

[Xipe Totec]

19. A 3.4% rise Year-over-year when inflation was 3.1% is basically flat. nt