Black Friday shopping is a well-known tradition in the United States. The day after Thanksgiving, many Americans shop at stores (and online) to get the best deals for various products.
In 2021, however, the nation’s economy is bogged down by both inflation and supply chain quandaries. Therefore, it stands to reason this year’s Black Friday shopping would not look the same as other years where inflation and problems with the supply chain weren’t present.
As one might expect, this year’s Black Friday shopping took an interesting turn.
A closer look at Black Friday shopping in 2021
For starters, 2021 Black Friday shopping levels are 47.5% higher than they were in 2020, yet also 28.3% lower than where they were in 2019. This clearly shows while more Americans shopped on Black Friday than they did last year, they still didn’t reach pre-COVID levels.
Sensormatic Solutions data furthermore shows more Americans are shopping online; they’re also shopping for Christmas presents at an earlier time than usual. This past Black Friday, the most shopping occurred between the timeframe of 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM.
