While Black Friday isn’t until the end of the month, we’re already seeing early Black Friday offers from several major stores.

“There will be a shortage of availability of some things, and people need to be aware of that,” said Robert Hooker, a University of South Florida professor of supply chain management.

With deteriorating supply chain concerns, consumer experts have been warning about this. They advise that you should act quickly and take advantage of early offers when it comes to holiday shopping.

According to the annual study issued by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, an estimated 186.4 million customers took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and shopped in-store and online this year. Retailers have been preparing for the season by ensuring their stores are secure, their employees are well-trained, their inventory is well-stocked, and their online experiences are seamless.

“Consumers have embraced an earlier start to the holiday shopping season, as expected, but many were also prepared to embrace a long-standing custom of buying gifts for family and friends online and in stores throughout Thanksgiving weekend. Retailers have been preparing for the season by ensuring their stores are secure, their employees are well-trained, their inventory is well-stocked, and their online experience is smooth. Many things have changed since the outbreak, but retailers’ dedication to meeting customers where, when, and how they want to buy at the rates they want to pay has remained constant “Matthew Shay, President, and CEO of the National Retail Federation, stated this.

While the total number of shoppers from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday fell slightly from 189.6 million in an extraordinarily strong 2019, it is much higher than the 165.8 million shoppers in 2018.

• The period from Black Friday to Small Business Saturday showed a massive increase in online traffic.
• The number of online Black Friday consumers has surpassed 100 million for the first time, up 8% from the previous year.
• The number of online Saturday consumers, often linked with small company shoppers, increased by 17% year over year.
• For the whole weekend, online-only shoppers surged by 44%, totaling 95.7 million.

“The thing about this early start is that it does make things difficult for shoppers. Because shoppers have gotten so used to this idea that Black Friday, Cyber Monday, are the best prices of the year,” said Kristin McGrath, Editor for The Real Deal blog for RetailMeNot.

More than half (52%) of holiday buyers said they took advantage of early holiday sales and promotions this year, thanks to shops luring consumers with significant bargains as early as October. In the week leading up to Thanksgiving, 38% of those surveyed said they checked off holiday purchases on their to-do list. More than half (53%) thought the weekend promotions were the same as earlier in the season.

In-store sales were low, as expected, given the status of the epidemic and the number of retailers that chose to close on Thanksgiving Day. Because of the shift in consumer traffic to online channels, the number of in-store consumers on Thanksgiving Day fell by 55% from the previous year, while those on Black Friday fell by 37%. According to a previous NRF survey, a huge majority of holiday shoppers (70 %) said they feel safe shopping in stores this holiday season because of the safeguards merchants have made for COVID-19.

Shoppers spent an average of $311.75 on holiday-related products such as gifts and decorations throughout the five-day period, down from $361.90 last year but close to $313.29 in 2018. Nearly three-quarters of that amount ($224.48) was spent on gifts.

Throughout the year, consumers have emphasized the importance of holidays. In contrast, most Christmas buyers (55%) stated recent COVID-19 case developments had little influence on their holiday buying plans this year. Most (51%) believe they are more interested in holiday decorations and seasonal things due to the pandemic. They were also eager to assist small businesses, with 77% saying they would do more this year.

“Online traffic increased significantly this year, particularly for Black Friday and Saturday buyers,” said Phil Rist, Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy. “With the beginning of the holiday shopping season moving up even earlier, customers will use these channels even more.”

Clothing (52%) was the most popular gift purchased over the weekend, followed by toys (32%), books/music/movies/video games (29%), gift cards/certificates (29%), and electronics (29%). (27 percent).

Department stores (40% of those polled), supermarket stores (39%), apparel stores (33 %), and electronics stores were among the most popular shopping destinations (31 percent).

Even though customers have welcomed the early start to the holiday shopping season, their shopping lists are still incomplete. Holiday buyers have approximately half of their shopping done, and 91% believe that amazing discounts will continue to be available throughout the season.

The National Retail Federation defines the holiday season as of November 1 through December 31 and forecasts that sales will rise by 3.6 % to 5.2 % in 2019, totaling $755.3 billion to $766.7 billion. The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts that online and other non-store sales included in the total would climb by 20% to 30% during the 2020 holiday season. According to the NRF’s annual survey issued in October, respondents plan to spend $997.79 on gifts, seasonal products, and other “non-gift” expenditures for themselves and their families this year.

The survey of 6,615 adult consumers took place between November 25 and 30, with a margin of error of 1.2 percentage points.

Gift cards were the second most popular type of gift, accounting for a staggering 29 percent market share. Gift cards are here to stay for the foreseeable future because they are extremely convenient for consumers. To ensure optimal client contentment, a variety of gift card programmes are in place. You can absolutely ace the game of client contentment with 99minds gift cards.

About 99minds: 99minds is a holistic engagement, acquisition, and retention solution. Customers can use the 99minds platform to generate coupons, gift cards, discounts, referrals, loyalty programmes, and location-based promotions. The best thing about 99minds is that it’s a simple, plug-and-play marketing platform that allows a marketing team to design targeted promotions campaigns and create an omnichannel consumer experience.