A marketing trifecta, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday all took place last weekend, potentially putting a significant amount of consumer dollars into the domestic economy.
While CNN Money reported that American shoppers spent some $5 billion this Black Friday, it also reports that much of that money was spent online. Similarly, data analytics company ShopperTrack reported that the number of shoppers going to Black Friday sales in brick-and-mortar retailers was down, though not significantly.
Many analysts are worried that increased online spending will mean decreased spending on domestic products, many American businesses have added online retail to their services meaning that online sales and domestic sales are not as mutually exclusive as many believe.
The National Retail Foundation has also reported that the amount that Americans spend this holiday season is expected to be significantly higher than the decrease in in-store spending, which may also be comforting to those worried about domestic sales.
While increased spending can be signs of a strong economy, there are many other reasons that spending can fluctuate from year to year, including what day different holidays land on. “One of the big reasons for that larger payday is the fact that Christmas falls 32 days after Thanksgiving this year, one day more than last year,” said Jason Notte, writer for The Street, “It’s also on a Monday instead of Sunday, giving consumers an extra weekend day to complete their shopping.” Studies have shown that around 5 percent of holiday shoppers don’t finish their holiday shopping until after Christmas day, adding further uncertainty to models.
Another interesting consideration is that according to the report by the NRF, cash and gift cards make up well over 50 percent of all gifts that are likely to be exchanged this holiday season.
