Black Friday can wait, super bowl of holiday shopping begins online

The super bowl of holiday shopping is mere days away, with Black Friday poised to descend on the Columbus area, followed by Small Business Saturday and then Cyber Monday.

Those who can’t get their fill of spending on gifts for others and themselves over the four-day shopping blitz once again can waddle out to the local Best Buy, Target, Toys R Us, Walmart or Kohl’s later in the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day after getting their fill of turkey, ham and all the fixings at home.

The huge caveat with this year’s holiday shopping season is — like year round — there will be a mass of spending online before, during and after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In fact, a survey from BlackFriday.com found that 55 percent of consumers will check prices on Amazon.com before making a purchase, with nearly 40 percent declaring that “free shipping” could tip their holiday spending from one retailer to another.

One retail player which will be noticeably absent this year in the Columbus brick-and-mortar world is Sears, which shuttered its large department store at Columbus Park Crossing back in the spring, along with the remaining Kmart discount outlets. Electronics and appliance seller hhgregg also went bankrupt this year and is no more.

The National Retail Federation estimates about 164 million people across the United States of America will whip out their cash or credit cards or Paypal accounts between Thursday and Monday. That no doubt will include a sizable portion of those 300,000 residents in the Columbus metro area, along with people visiting relatives here in this military town for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

“Consumers will benefit from competitive promotions both in stores and online lasting the course of the weekend, allowing them to find the best gifts at the lowest prices,” said Matthew Shay, the federation’s president and chief executive officer, on his organization’s website. The federation projects holiday season spending in the U.S. through December will approach $680 billion this year, which would be up from $655.8 billion a year ago.

Two interesting aspects of the shopping season this year are: Christmas will fall 32 days after Thanksgiving, serving up an additional day of shopping for procrastinators, and the holy day falls on a Monday, which means a full weekend (Saturday and Sunday) of spending, although most stores still will close early on Christmas Eve to allow employees time with loved ones and friends.

Of course, nothing screams holiday joy quite like a toy or two or three under the Christmas tree. According to Prosper Insights & Analytics, the top toys for girls this year, in order, will be Barbie, dolls in general, Hatchimals, Fingerlings, American Girl/My Little Pony, Shopkins, Disney Princess, Baby Alive/LOL Surprise Doll, Disney Frozen and Apple products to include the iPhone and iPad.

For boys, the survey firm anticipates the top toys will be LEGO, video games, cars and trucks, Hot Wheels, Star Wars items, Nerf, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, drone and Paw Patrol.

For those shoppers who simply have no clue what they want to get someone, or simply don’t have time to shop around, gift cards are the go-to purchase to make. The top cards to give will be for restaurants, department stores, a general-use branded cards such as Visa or Mastercard, coffee shops, entertainment such as movie theaters, online merchants, electronics stores and bookstores. For the practical minded, a gift card or certificate from a grocery store or gas station also will go a long way during and after the holidays.

“Gift cards continue to be a popular low-risk option for gift givers, and this year we’re seeing food increase in favor as well,” said Pam Goodfellow, Prosper’s principal analyst. “As Americans look to celebrate with even more of the special people in their lives, food serves as a great way to come together.”

Finally, the top categories of consumer spending which kick off this week and run through Dec. 24 show no major surprises. Clothing and accessories will be purchased by 61 percent of shoppers, with 59 percent grabbing gift cards. Books, music, movies and video games will be bought by 44 percent of gift givers, with toys next at 42 percent and food/candy at 34 percent. Just under 30 percent of people are expected to buy and give an electronics item this year, to include big-screen smart televisions, computers, smartphones and video games.

As Best Buy said atop its Sunday sales ad, “Let the Black Friday prices begin.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Black Friday can wait, super bowl of holiday shopping begins online."