More than 75% of Americans are worried about the economy, according to a new survey by Fox News, but surprisingly, more than 18 million Americans ventured out to shops during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Strong Holiday Weekend Spending
Spending during the holiday weekend hit a new high of 200.4 million, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). Online shopping was the preferred method of around 44% of consumers.
Ifrah Sultan, a resident of Nashville, Tennessee, told Fox News: "I buy a lot of stuff on TikTok and stuff like that, so I do believe people use their phone to buy stuff more than in person."
With over 76 million buyers attending the malls on Black Friday, November 24, it was clearly the most popular day for in-person shopping. Black Friday was the busiest day for online shopping this year, perhaps more so than Cyber Monday sales on November 27. According to NRF, over 90.6% of online users shopped on Black Friday compared to 73.1 million on Cyber Monday.
Matt Shay, CEO and president of the NRF, stated that this generation has now entered a mixed commerce age. "It's getting much more difficult to distinguish between purely in-store and purely online experiences. It speaks more to the convergence of retail that we've seen taking place across all channels."
The Unstable Economy
Anxiety about the economy is a common sentiment among Americans.
"I feel like it should be a concern to everybody," Saed Sultan told Fox News. "I save. Live below your means, think for the future."
Scala, a New Jersey resident, lamented the difficulties faced by younger Americans like his son and daughter-in-law as they entered the job market. Interest rates are prohibitively expensive, while they would want to own a home. "Everything is expensive now, no matter where you go. Everything is inflated. As far as the economy, I hope it doesn't get any worse."
The predicted increase in holiday spending this year is 3 to 4%, reaching over 950 billion. And although that may seem troubling, the NRF sees it as a positive indicator.
A 3 to 4% growth rate is consistent with, and even somewhat higher than, the trend of the ten years before the pandemic. Shay said it is expected that customers will continue to show strength, resilience, and running room for the remainder of the Christmas season. However, holiday sales projected to climb by 3 to 4% do not consider inflation.
There are reports on a rise in the popularity of "Buy Now, Pay Later" arrangements. But, due to increasing loan rates, customers should exercise caution.
"Credit card debt interest rates have peaked also. I think it's easy to get into credit card trouble at this time of year. So, be careful. It's a lot more difficult to pay them off than it was a couple of years ago," said George John, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.
