Black Friday: US buyers brave long cold lines in search of bargains

NEW YORK (Reuters) – US shoppers waited long in front of checkout counters on Black Friday to take advantage of substantial discounts on clothing and electronics, demonstrating that a good economy Health and rising wages were reflected in an increase in consumer spending retailers make-or-break holiday season.

Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, marks the kickoff of the Christmas holiday season for retailers. Analysts and economists are closely monitoring indices of the strength of the retail sector and the economy in general.

In the last weeks of 2018, investors are wondering if the US economy is at the end of the economic cycle, still fueled by last year's tax cuts, but facing more and more obstacles, including rising interest rates, a trade war with the main supplier credit problems.

A strong and confident consumer could delay or mitigate any possible slowdown.

Buyers have purchased expensive items, such as TVs, Apple iPads and watches, in-store and online from Target Corp.TGT.N), while telephones, toys, game consoles and kitchen utensils were the top selling at Walmart Inc. (WMT.N).

Some of the offers:

– H & M store in Manhattan offers 30% off everything in store and online.

– A sign in the window of a Gap Factory store in Jackson Heights, Queens, promoted "60% discount on everything".

– Urban Outfitters offered 50% off the second item at the same price or lower price.

– Walmart was selling a Roomba WiFi robot vacuum cleaner online or for in-store pickup for $ 100 rebate at $ 194.

– Buy 1 free pajamas for 1 at Victoria's Secret.

Charlotte Jackson, of London, comes to New York with her mother to shop at Black Friday.

"At home, Black Friday is not such a big deal," said Jackson, a 27-year-old tax advisor, when he was shopping for lingerie and pajamas at Victoria's Secret.

Shortly before 6 am on Friday, shoppers were seen knocking on the door of a Bath & Body Works at the Pittsburgh Waterfront Mall, queuing to buy candles, soap and lotion at a discounted price , while long queues were forming at the checkout counter of the Dick's Sporting Goods. store in the mall.

But there was little evidence of the delusional frenzy of Black Fridays buyers in previous years, in other parts of the country, particularly in the Northeast, where the crowd was meager, because of the record time.

Computer graduates from Columbia, Bhavaya Shahi and Ketakee Nimavat, both 21, spent the night in front of Macy's Herald Square in New York City.

"We learned that there would be long queues," said Shahi, bags in hand and hung on his forearm. "He is more empty than we thought."

Moody analyst Charlie O'Shea, who was visiting stores in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, said Thursday that slower starts in Thanksgiving stores and Black Friday did not indicate buyers' appetite the season.

"The season should be strong and all the signs regarding consumer sentiment go in that direction," he said.

Sharon Neidert, 57, a director of a software company, said she was traveling from Ohio to New York with her daughter. They watched the Macys Thanksgiving parade yesterday and were looking for bargains Thursday.

"I spend more, the atmosphere is generally more optimistic," she said.

BOOM ONLINE

Buyers spent $ 1.75 billion online at 5 pm And on Thanksgiving, smartphone sales have increased online spending by 28.6% over the previous year, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions from 80 of the top 100 online retailers in the USA.

"Up to here, everything is fine," said Shawn Kravetz, president of Esplanade Capital, about Black Friday. "Online (and) email solicitations (are) off tables – you have to get up an hour earlier to digest and delete them."

Consumers in San Francisco led the rest of the country with more than 2.3 million online transactions, followed by more than 954,000 in New York, more than 415,000 in Dallas and 389,000 on Thursday, according to the payment processor First Data Corp (FDC.N), which collects data from about 1 million American merchants.

Electronics retailers such as Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) recorded the largest number of transactions, followed by department stores such as Macy's Inc (m.n), according to Adobe data.

Traditionally, the day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season in the United States. But with the opening of American stores on Thanksgiving night, the typical rush on Friday morning black split up.

According to forecasts by the National Retail Federation, US holiday retail sales in November and December will increase by 4.3% to 4.8% over 2017, reaching a total of $ 717.45 billion. dollars to 720.89 billion dollars. This compares with an average annual increase of 3.9% over the last five years.

About 38 percent of US consumers plan to shop for Black Friday this year, and six out of ten shoppers plan to make at least half of their holiday shopping that day, a Reuters / Ipsos poll found last week.