Black Friday Off to Strong Start

According to various analysts, Black Friday is off to a promising start for retailers — both in-store and online. According to a survey of mall property owners by JLL, 62.5 percent said the initial foot traffic at their center was "moderate to strong" compared to last year's Black Friday. And the traffic isn't limited to physical stores. Data from Adobe Analytics shows that as of 10 am ET, $643 million has been spent online, a nearly 28 percent increase year-over-year. Online spend is on track to hit over $6.4 billion today, and will either match or surpass last year’s Cyber Monday revenue ($6.6 billion).

Sixty percent of consumers plan to shop online on Black Friday (no change from 2017), whereas 43 percent plan to shop at a physical store. Nearly two-thirds of online shoppers reported they plan to at least browse in a physical store prior to purchasing online.

Those shoppers are looking for great deals, and according to Numerator, they're finding them. Retailers are offering deeper discounts this Black Friday than last year, according to a study of Black Friday circulars by Numerator. Numerator reviewed over 10,500 promotions from 17 retailers running Black Friday sale events and found the average depth of discount this year to be 47.9 percent off, an improvement from 45.2 percent last year.