Some shoppers hit the mall anyways. Even though many retailers took precautions — Walmart Inc. limited the number of customers inside its stores to just 20% of usual capacity, for example — there were still lines reported at stores across the U.S. including Lululemon Athletica Inc., Bath & Body Works and Urban Outfitters on Black Friday. Gabriella Santaniello, founder of retail research firm A-Line Partners, said teenagers in particular went out to shop in person, though that may have been more for the social aspect after months cooped up inside.
“A lot of teens want to be at the mall to look at the merchandise, and look at each other,” she said in a phone interview.
Most in-person shoppers were in-and-out, with nearly everyone who showed up making a purchase, boosting what retail watchers call the “conversion rate.”
“They want to make each trip count; especially with Covid, you don’t want to just go idly to a store or just do window shopping,” analyst Johnson said. “There are very few things that will stop American consumers from spending when they want to spend.”
The major general merchandise sellers like Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart are set to be the big winners this year with their strong e-commerce platforms and distribution networks. But even small businesses without the logistical muscle of their larger kin may prove surprisingly resilient.
They’ve coped by using social media and online shops to drive business. Black Friday sales shot up 75% to a record-setting $2.4 billion for the million or so independent businesses that use the e-commerce platform Shopify globally.
Small Business Saturday, a nationwide marketing campaign started by American Express in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis, helped draw shoppers into independent stores. Steering money to these shops has grown more urgent as pandemic-related shutdowns across the country pushed millions of small firms over the edge.
Consumers have gotten the message, said Rachel Lutz, owner of the Peacock Room, a women’s clothing boutique in Detroit. Sales at the Peacock Room and its sister store were about 20% better this past weekend than any previous year, with people snapping up self-care items like tiaras, shea butter hand cream and “anything with a swear word on it,” she said.
“People are fiercely shopping local,” said Lutz. Though she hasn’t started an e-commerce site, she’s hosted shows on Facebook Live to display her wares.
The Detroit City Distillery is another brick-and-mortar business that’s been forced onto the internet to survive Covid. The whiskey factory and cocktail lounge has supplemented a street-side bar with bottle releases online, and it’s doing more business because of it. It’s already sold over half the stock of its honey bourbon that went on sale on Black Friday, said Ian Redmond, the tasting room manager.