The good news is, despite higher prices, inflation and safety concerns, more Christmas shoppers are browsing online but making in-store purchases.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported this year an estimated 166.3 million people visited stores from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday — an 8 million increase from last year. It is the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017.
The good news extends to online sales. E-commerce retail revenues this year are projected to grow to $554 billion compared to $360 billion in 2019 — the first year of the pandemic.
Black Friday continues to be the most popular in-store day with 114.9 million shopping, followed by 63.9 million on Cyber Monday. Among those customers 67% say they expect to head to stores, up from 64% in 2021, NFR’s surveys showed.
The Seattle Times reported one major factor is shoppers’ declining fear of COVID-19. Zachary Warring, an equity analyst at CFRA Research who focuses on consumer discretionary sales, added: “I think people will return (to physical stores) because overall people enjoy … the atmosphere of brick-and-mortar shopping. It’s almost entertainment.”