Several department store chains in the US may experience muted or flat sales year-over-year during the Black Friday event in 2024. In contrast, online shopping, such as Amazon.com, Walmart, and TikTok Shop, reported significant sales growth in the seven days leading up to Black Friday compared to the previous year, according to Facteus.
Mastercard and other data providers state that brick-and-mortar sales increased only 0.7% year-over-year, while US e-commerce sales soared 14.6%. Jonathan Chin, co-founder and head of data at Facteus, noted that the estimates are not adjusted for inflation, based on his firm’s analysis of spending patterns on debit and credit cards online and in stores.
According to Facteus, if adjusted for inflation, online sales would grow only 8.5% instead of 11.1%, while in-store sales would decline by 8% instead of 5.4%.
Michelle Meyer, Mastercard Economics Institute’s chief economist, noted that while many consumers browsed in stores before Black Friday, most purchased online as they found greater power and choice as shoppers.
As for Friday’s overall spending, Mastercard SpendingPulse stated that when excluding automotive sales and not adjusting for inflation, sales rose 3.4% year-over-year. It also anticipated that from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, spending in stores and online would increase 3.2% year-over-year.
Adobe Inc. also reported that Americans spent approximately $10.8 billion online on Friday (up 10.2% from last year), especially on makeup, Bluetooth speakers, and espresso machines. Meanwhile, Salesforce stated that US online sales rose 7% to $17.5 billion on Friday, with shoppers purchasing more home appliances and furniture.
