The holiday season will be far from a return to normal this year, with fewer than four in 10 working Americans expressing comfort about Black Friday shopping in person or attending holiday parades, a Qualtrics survey found. COVID-19 remains a major concern for holiday shoppers, said the experience management software company. It canvassed 1,300 U.S. adults employed full or part time Oct. 12-15, finding 70% who said they expect the pandemic will affecting their holiday purchasing decisions, and 35% intending to do more shopping online than in stores. About a fifth (21%) said they plan to buy more technology for personal use or for remote work. Though the Transportation Security Administration said last week it expected a surge in Thanksgiving holiday travel, fewer than half (44%) of survey respondents said they feel tavel is safe from COVID-19, said Qualtrics.
Sales growth over the Cyber Five shopping days, Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, will edge up slightly to 18.5% this season, but stores will see a big turnaround from COVID-19 pandemic-strained 2020 when store traffic fell considerably, said eMarketer Thursday. “Black Friday will be a brick-and-mortar bonanza,” said eMarketer analyst Andrew Lipsman, predicting “resumption of pre-pandemic shopping rituals.” Mobile traffic will spike Black Friday, too, as consumers prepare for shopping in person, he said. About two-thirds of U.S. businesses are offering Black Friday promotions, down 17% from last year, said eMarketer, citing Sitecore.
Target previewed its Black Friday week deals, with discounted prices to kick in Sunday in stores and online, it said Monday. More deals will hit beginning on Thanksgiving, running through the following Saturday, including “new” TV deals with savings up to 30%, Target said. Target stores will be closed Thanksgiving; most are to open at 7 a.m. local time Black Friday. Drumming up support for its same-day services, Target said it will make “even more Black Friday deals” available this year via Drive Up and Order Pickup, “no membership required,” a jab at Amazon Prime and Walmart+ subscription membership services. Sunday through Nov. 27, customers can get a 65-inch Element 4K Roku TV for more than half off to $299 and save up to $60 on Apple Watch and AirPods, Target said. Shoppers who buy an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset will get a $50 gift card in a Black Friday week deal, it said.
Roku announced a $15 streaming device Monday that will be available exclusively through Walmart. The Roku LE, designed for “new customers on a budget,” will be available at Walmart.com Nov. 24 and in stores Nov. 26, “while supplies last,” said Roku Monday. Other Roku holiday deals, available online and across retailers, include the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, discounted $20 to $29 through Dec. 4; the Roku Streambar, discounted by $50 to $79 Nov.19-Dec. 4; the Premiere player, $15 off to $19 through Nov. 27; and the Streaming Stick+, cut $15 to $29 through Dec. 4. Content deals for the Roku Channel are 99-cent subscriptions for the first two months for AMC+, Epix, Showtime and Starz, redeemable Nov. 20-30. Also, first-time HBO Max customers are eligible for a free 30-day trial when they buy and activate a new Roku streaming device through Jan. 14. In addition, Roku is offering a $5 Redbox deal on all Roku players sold at Walmart.
Amazon and Google voice-controlled products feature prominently in Kohl’s Black Friday deals, teased Friday by Blackfriday.com for a Nov. 21 start. Amazon’s Fire HD tablet is shown at $44, half the regular price; a first-generation Echo Show is $59, down from $109; a third-gen Echo Dot is discounted $20 to $19; and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is halved to $24. Amazon’s Ring Stick Up camera is $25 off to $74. Google’s Nest Mini smart speaker is $24, down from $49; the Nest learning thermostat is $179, from $249; and the second-gen Nest Hub is half off to $49. Fitbit deals start at $59 for the Inspire 2 fitness tracker and top out at $199 for the Sense smartwatch; the Fitbit Versa 2 smartwatch is $60 off to $119. IRobot’s Roomba 677 robot vacuum is $189, down from $374, with an extra 15% coupon discount. Deals run through Nov. 26.
The average U.S. consumer spent 136% more time on CE retail websites over Thanksgiving week than the year-ago period, Comscore blogged Thursday. Overall visits to online retail sites were up 22% from Nov. 23-29, it said. Retail website visits on Black Friday increased 14%, vs. 33% the preceding Monday and Tuesday. Visits to toy retail sites were down 47% on Black Friday, 49% for the week, it said.
Sonos is selling speaker bundles as part of its $100-off holiday promotions, including an indoor/outdoor bundle combining One and Move ($498) speakers. A multiroom entertainment set bundling an Arc sound bar and Move is $1,098. Other $100-off deals include a stand-alone Move to $299, the Beam sound bar ($299) and the Sub ($599). Sonos Chief Financial Officer Brittany Bagley said on a recent earnings call (see 2011190057) that the company began discounting for the holidays earlier than usual this season consistent with what “other partners and retailers are seeing.” She predicted “less back-end loading” this quarter than in previous holiday quarters. Sonos expects the holiday quarter to contribute less total revenue as a percentage of the total fiscal year than last year, said Bagley, citing supply chain constraints. The company is feeling impacts from component and container availability, port congestion and higher shipping and logistics costs, she said.
The Service Contract Industry Council is trying to make the case that extended warranties on consumer tech devices are an essential buy during this “pandemic-wracked year.” The trade association canvassed 1,200 consumers Nov. 18-19, finding half said they needed to repair or replace a laptop for remote learning during COVID-19, it said Tuesday. Parents with kids 11 and younger “were 40% more likely to admit having a phone dropped in the toilet compared with the average individual,” it said.
Video streaming specials kicked into gear this week for Black Friday sales events. Hulu brought back its annual promotion, offering new and eligible returning subscribers its ad-supported plan for $1.99 monthly for one year, savings of $48. AMC+ is trialing on streaming video platforms. Amazon is offering AMC+ with a 30-day free trial, then $8.99 a month. New subscribers on the Roku platform can get AMC+ for $4.99 for three months, redeemable on The Roku Channel Wednesday through Dec. 4, before going up to $8.99 monthly.
Despite inventory shortages, major computer discounts kicked in Sunday at an average 27.8% savings, Adobe Analytics emailed Tuesday. Overall electronics discounts averaged 23.6%. Some $58.9 billion was spent Nov. 1 through Monday. The new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S game consoles are selling out quickly, said the analytics firm. Top electronics sellers include Amazon’s Echo and Fire TV and Oculus' virtual reality headsets. Shoppers are using their smartphones to place orders more than ever, with $22.8 billion spent on handsets Nov. 1-23, a 49% year-on-year increase, it said. Large retailers with over $1 billion in annual revenue had revenue gains of more than 136% over the past three days vs. an October baseline; small-to-medium size retailers had a 117% boost. Some 70% of consumers said the surge in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks prompted them to buy more online. Two-thirds have started holiday shopping; 20% plan to start over Black Friday weekend; and 56% believe the best discounts will be saved for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, said a November survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers. Expedited shipping grew 67%; standard shipping is up 61%, said Adobe. Curbside and in-store pickup rose 115% year on year; retailers that offer it are having 25% of orders fulfilled using the options and report 32% higher conversion than retailers that don’t offer it. Adobe reaffirmed its full season November-December forecast of $189 billion spent online for 33% year-on-year growth: It predicts Thanksgiving sales will hit $6 billion, up 42.3%; Black Friday sales growth of 39.2% to $10.3 billion; and Cyber Monday sales rising 35.3% to $12.7 billion. Retailers are accelerating promotional strategies while shipping and fulfillment systems “stretch under pressure,” said analyst Taylor Schreiner. Despite an earlier start to holiday deals, Adobe expects “record buying” through Thanksgiving weekend: “Shoppers have been conditioned to expect deals and save money, and retailers will meet the call.” Nov. 9-17, when vaccine news emerged from Pfizer and Moderna, bookings for 2021 travel grew 35% vs. the year-ago span. Tickets for air travel are slower than in years past, but “consumer optimism is rising,” Schreiner said.