You’re not imagining it: Black Friday is only getting bigger.
As retailers compete for consumers’ dollars, deep discounts are becoming par for the course on America’s biggest shopping day of the year, and more businesses than ever are taking part.
According to research from discount comparison site LovetheSales.com, there are 32 percent more online deals on offer this year over last year, setting a new record overall.
Among the products carried online by the close to 1,000 retailers analyzed by the site, more than half are on sale, with an average discount rate of 37 percent, topping 2017’s average of 33 percent.
In terms of footwear specifically, sneakers offer the most widespread bargains: Over 72 percent of styles sold online are discounted, the site says, compared with an average of 45 and 51 percent across other clothing and footwear categories. And with sales as steep as 50 percent off at popular brands like Adidas, the deals are particularly dramatic.
Of course, heavy promotional efforts aren’t always good news for retailers’ margins, even if shoppers are happy. But with Amazon promising to devour a significant share of the industry’s revenues for the season, retailers across the board are hoping for a boost from the holiday: 57 percent more U.S. retailers are offering Black Friday sales this year over last year, per the report.
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If early predictions are right, there should be plenty of demand for the bargains, too: 7 in 10 consumers plan to shop over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to a recent survey by Deloitte, with 91 percent saying they will buy from e-commerce retailers and 89 percent saying they’ll opt for brick-and-mortar stores.
On average, the survey’s respondents said they plan to spend $420 between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, a figure that should stretch quite far given the discounts.
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