Black Friday Lured Shoppers Back, in Early Test for Holiday Spending

Americans returned to their pre pandemic habits on Black Friday as they spent more time and money in stores than last year, but some data show they were also cautious with spending as inflation weighs on their pocketbooks.

The boost in store traffic over Black Friday comes after a surge last year from 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic when many shoppers favoured buying online. Shoppers still bought items online this year, but many browsed in stores, revelling in a holiday tradition, according to early data. Some consultants and industry groups have predicted slower sales growth for the overall holiday season compared with last year.

Shoppers who held off on purchases are betting on even better deals in the days leading up to Christmas, which falls on a Sunday this year, according to shoppers and retail executives. High gasoline and grocery prices are also weighing on many households.

Chloe Gonzales woke up at 4 a.m. in Austin, Texas, to do some Christmas shopping and look for winter clothes on Black Friday. “People are less fearful about going out now,” Ms. Gonzales said. “They’re not as worried about Covid.”

Ms. Gonzales said she has found good deals this year, but added that she is spending a little more money compared with last year. This time, she found a leather jacket for 50% off. “I like the thrill of going out shopping and finding a good deal,” Ms. Gonzales said.

Store traffic rose 7% this Black Friday compared with last, said RetailNext, a firm that tracks shopper counts in thousands of stores with cameras and sensors. In-store sales rose 0.1%, and the average shopper spent less per visit than last year, according to the firm. Sensormatic Solutions, another firm that analyses store traffic, said Black Friday traffic rose 2.9% compared with 2021.

Black Friday had been losing importance before the pandemic hit as shoppers spread out holiday shopping, grabbing earlier deals or buying more online. This year is “a bit of a return to normalcy,” said Brian Field, global head of retail consulting for Sensormatic.

Sales on Black Friday rose 12% from last year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment. The report excludes auto sales and isn’t adjusted for inflation, meaning that it could reflect people paying higher prices for goods than they did in 2021.

Consumers were deal-driven, said Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard and former chief executive of department-store chain Saks Inc. “Apparel, electronics and restaurants were strong-performing sectors as consumers turned holiday shopping into a full-day experience,” he said.

This holiday many retailers entered the season, which they often rely on for a significant percentage of their annual sales, with too much inventory. To clear those goods, a slew of retailers are offering heavy discounts, a move that can eat into their profits.

Consumers are also feeling less bullish about their economic prospects. Last week the University of Michigan released its November consumer-sentiment index, which fell 5.2% compared with October and is down 16% compared with November 2021.

Amid persistent inflation, retailers including Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. said shoppers were spending less on discretionary items heading into the holidays. Some chains including Macy’s Inc., Kohl’s Corp. and Target said sales slowed in October and early November. Some executives expect shoppers to delay holiday purchases until closer to Christmas.

It has been “kind of a lukewarm Black Friday,” said David Bassuk, global co-leader of the retail practice at AlixPartners, a consulting firm. “It’s more of an experience than it is a purchasing moment,” he added.

Retailers are playing a game of chicken with shoppers looking for deals, Mr. Bassuk said. For a retailer, leaving the holiday season without moving enough inventory is a disaster, he said. “That’s why the discounts get deeper every week,” Mr. Bassuk said.

Online sales on Black Friday rose 2.3% to $9.12 billion from last year, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks spending on websites. On Thanksgiving people spent $5.3 billion online, up 2.9% from the holiday last year, according to Adobe.

For many shoppers, Black Friday shopping is a family pastime, regardless of how much is spent.

Lazaro Allen, an artist living in New York City, visited a Best Buy Co. store in nearby Mount Vernon, N.Y., in search of a 65-inch television. He planned to head to Macy’s next to buy gifts.

“There are so many TVs here,” he said, looking down the aisles. He said inflation hasn’t taken a significant toll on his finances, and he went to stores on Friday more out of tradition than because he expected major deals.

This month, the National Retail Federation predicted sales would rise between 6% and 8% to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. The figures exclude spending at car dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants and aren’t adjusted for inflation.

Lauren Pote, a 47-year-old clinical psychologist, said she is being more selective in what she is buying this year, because everything costs more. “It may take me a bit longer to buy gifts this year, because I’m really hunting for the sales,” said Ms. Pote, who was shopping with her family on Friday at the SoNo Collection Mall in Norwalk, Conn.

She bought a sweatshirt for her son from Hollister that was 40% off. “I don’t typically shop on Black Friday,” Ms. Pote said, “but it was raining and we wanted to get out of the house.”

—Suzanne Kapner, Adolfo Flores and Sharon Terlep contributed to this article.

The marketplace has spoken and, at least for now, it’s showing preference for hybrids and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) over battery electrics. That makes Toyota’s foot dragging on EVs (and full speed ahead on hybrids) look fairly wise, though the timeline along a bumpy road still gets us to full electrification by 2035.

Italian supercar producer Lamborghini, in business since 1963, is also proceeding, incrementally, toward battery power. In an interview, Federico Foschini , Lamborghini’s chief global marketing and sales officer, talked about the new Urus SE plug-in hybrid the company showed at its lounge in New York on Monday.

The Urus SE interior gets a larger centre screen and other updates.
Lamborghini

The Urus SE SUV will sell for US$258,000 in the U.S. (the company’s biggest market) when it goes on sale internationally in the first quarter of 2025, Foschini says.

“We’re using the contribution from the electric motor and battery to not only lower emissions but also to boost performance,” he says. “Next year, all three of our models [the others are the Revuelto, a PHEV from launch, and the continuation of the Huracán] will be available as PHEVs.”

The Euro-spec Urus SE will have a stated 37 miles of electric-only range, thanks to a 192-horsepower electric motor and a 25.9-kilowatt-hour battery, but that distance will probably be less in stricter U.S. federal testing. In electric mode, the SE can reach 81 miles per hour. With the 4-litre 620-horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine engaged, the picture is quite different. With 789 horsepower and 701 pound-feet of torque on tap, the SE—as big as it is—can reach 62 mph in 3.4 seconds and attain 193 mph. It’s marginally faster than the Urus S, but also slightly under the cutting-edge Urus Performante model. Lamborghini says the SE reduces emissions by 80% compared to a standard Urus.

Lamborghini’s Urus plans are a little complicated. The company’s order books are full through 2025, but after that it plans to ditch the S and Performante models and produce only the SE. That’s only for a year, however, because the all-electric Urus should arrive by 2029.

Lamborghini’s Federico Foschini with the Urus SE in New York.
Lamborghini

Thanks to the electric motor, the Urus SE offers all-wheel drive. The motor is situated inside the eight-speed automatic transmission, and it acts as a booster for the V8 but it can also drive the wheels on its own. The electric torque-vectoring system distributes power to the wheels that need it for improved cornering. The Urus SE has six driving modes, with variations that give a total of 11 performance options. There are carbon ceramic brakes front and rear.

To distinguish it, the Urus SE gets a new “floating” hood design and a new grille, headlights with matrix LED technology and a new lighting signature, and a redesigned bumper. There are more than 100 bodywork styling options, and 47 interior color combinations, with four embroidery types. The rear liftgate has also been restyled, with lights that connect the tail light clusters. The rear diffuser was redesigned to give 35% more downforce (compared to the Urus S) and keep the car on the road.

The Urus represents about 60% of U.S. Lamborghini sales, Foschini says, and in the early years 80% of buyers were new to the brand. Now it’s down to 70%because, as Foschini says, some happy Urus owners have upgraded to the Performante model. Lamborghini sold 3,000 cars last year in the U.S., where it has 44 dealers. Global sales were 10,112, the first time the marque went into five figures.

The average Urus buyer is 45 years old, though it’s 10 years younger in China and 10 years older in Japan. Only 10% are women, though that percentage is increasing.

“The customer base is widening, thanks to the broad appeal of the Urus—it’s a very usable car,” Foschini says. “The new buyers are successful in business, appreciate the technology, the performance, the unconventional design, and the fun-to-drive nature of the Urus.”

Maserati has two SUVs in its lineup, the Levante and the smaller Grecale. But Foschini says Lamborghini has no such plans. “A smaller SUV is not consistent with the positioning of our brand,” he says. “It’s not what we need in our portfolio now.”

It’s unclear exactly when Lamborghini will become an all-battery-electric brand. Foschini says that the Italian automaker is working with Volkswagen Group partner Porsche on e-fuel, synthetic and renewably made gasoline that could presumably extend the brand’s internal-combustion identity. But now, e-fuel is very expensive to make as it relies on wind power and captured carbon dioxide.

During Monterey Car Week in 2023, Lamborghini showed the Lanzador , a 2+2 electric concept car with high ground clearance that is headed for production. “This is the right electric vehicle for us,” Foschini says. “And the production version will look better than the concept.” The Lanzador, Lamborghini’s fourth model, should arrive in 2028.

Black Friday Lured Shoppers Back, in Early Test for Holiday Spending

Stores on average welcomed more consumers compared with last year, industry data show