On Black Friday, more U.S. shoppers chose the computer over the mall

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS NOVEMBER 24, 2018 / 6:09 PM / UPDATED A DAY AGO

On Black Friday, more U.S. shoppers chose the computer over the mall

Nandita Bose, Melissa Fares
4 MIN READ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday kickoff of the U.S. holiday shopping season showed the increasing preference for online purchases, as more Americans opted to stay home and use their smartphones while sales and traffic at brick-and-mortar stores declined.

The ongoing shift to online shopping has forced retailers across the country to invest heavily in boosting their e-commerce businesses, and also highlights the impact of early holiday promotions and year-round deals on consumer spending.

The weekend also redefined the importance of Black Friday. For the past few years, Black Friday was believed to be waning in importance, but it is now turning into a day when shoppers do not necessarily flock to stores but spend heavily online.

Bill Park, a partner at Deloitte & Touche LP, said online sales are starting to complement in-store shopping over the weekend, and for shoppers and retailers the two platforms are starting to converge.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-holidayshopping/on-black-friday-more-u-s-shoppers-chose-the-computer-over-the-mall-idUSKCN1NT0WK

[OnlinePoker]

1. Cyber Monday is losing all of its meaning

Now every day is cyber shopping day.

[House of Roberts]

2. Cyber Monday was only special when most workers had to be at their job

to get onto the internet. Now most work computers are restricted, so there's nothing special about Monday unless the sellers offer something different just for Monday. Most people can use their cell phone on their own data now, too.

[kimbutgar]

3. I pride myself I didn't step foot in a store on Black friday

But did some shopping in stores on Saturday.