{"id":2515496,"date":"2025-11-28T15:39:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T20:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-store-black-friday-crowds-underwhelm-as-online-shopping-surges\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T15:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T20:43:08","slug":"in-store-black-friday-crowds-underwhelm-as-online-shopping-surges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-store-black-friday-crowds-underwhelm-as-online-shopping-surges\/","title":{"rendered":"In-store Black Friday crowds underwhelm as online shopping surges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fin-store-black-friday-crowds-underwhelm-as-online-shopping-surges%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2515496&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses how conventional in-store Black Friday shopping has seen a decline in excitement and crowds, as more consumers shift towards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gravy-train-keeps-rolling-for-second-stepdaughter-ella-emhoff\/\" title=\"Gravy Train Keeps Rolling for Second Stepdaughter Ella Emhoff\">online shopping<\/a>. Once marked by frenzied shoppers eager to grab the steepest discounts early in the morning,Black Friday has lost its reputation as a one-day event for the best deals. Retailers now <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >offer promotions weeks<\/a> in advance, and discounts are spread over many products rather than a few standout items.Experts note that this dilution has diminished the event&#8217;s special appeal. Despite fewer shoppers physically visiting stores, millions are still expected to shop during the Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday period, with online sales driving much of the activity. Many consumers now shop from home for convenience and value, while for some, visiting stores on black Friday has become more of a nostalgic tradition than a quest for the best bargains.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">In-store Black Friday crowds underwhelm as online shopping surges<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1482780\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/business\/\">Black Friday <\/a>used to be the day when consumers were ready to claw their way to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/business\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-so-called-inflation-reduction-act-does-nothing-manchin-claims-it-does\/\" title=\"The So-Called &quot;Inflation Reduction Act&quot; Does Nothing Manchin Claims It Does\">rock bottom prices<\/a><\/a> at retailers across the country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Television vans and reporters would arrive in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/three-dead-four-injured-in-suspected-human-smuggling-crash-in-texas-near-border\/\" title=\"Three Dead, Four Injured in Suspected Human Smuggling Crash in Texas near Border\">pre-dawn hours<\/a> to talk to frenzied shoppers waiting for&nbsp;the chance to get their hands on a $3 toaster or a $100 television.&nbsp;But these&nbsp;days, Black Friday isn&rsquo;t the one-day retail bonanza that it used to be.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3894636\/precious-metal-gold-silver-prices-rise-amid-economy-uncertainty\/\">Precious metal prices rise amid economy uncertainty<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/magazine\/3892452\/low-housing-supply-remains-trump-biggest-obstacle-winning-voters-economic-approval\/\">Low housing supply remains Trump&#8217;s biggest obstacle to winning voters&#8217; economic approval<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3900070\/faa-amazon-investigation-drone-internet-cable\/\">FAA investigating Amazon after drone cuts internet cable<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Black Friday Shoppers enter Macy&rsquo;s flagship store at opening time in New York on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo\/Angelina Katsanis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Stores are opening later, foot traffic is flat, and retailers are offering discounts weeks in advance. Customers, wary of the &ldquo;big deals&rdquo; and &ldquo;massive savings&rdquo; promised, are more cautious about how and what they spend their money on.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The integrity of the event is pretty much gone,&rdquo; Mark Cohen, former CEO of Sears Canada, who spent a decade as the director of retail studies at Columbia Business School, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/11\/28\/black-friday-shopping-retail-letdown.html\">told<\/a> <em>CNBC<\/em>. &ldquo;Back in the day, a Black Friday price was the best you could ever find on something &hellip; never to be seen again. In today&rsquo;s day and age, promotional pricing just gets better and better from a consumer&rsquo;s point of view the closer you get to the holiday.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>To be sure, millions of shoppers are expected to visit malls and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sanders-right-wing-republicans-want-newsom-out-celebrity-chef-90-of-my-restaurant-owner-friends-are-dems-they-want-him-gone\/\" title=\"Sanders: \u2018Right-Wing Republicans\u2019 Want Newsom Out. Celebrity Chef: 90% Of My Restaurant-Owner Friends Are Dems. They Want Him Gone.\">big-box stores<\/a> on Friday. The rub is that millions more will stay home, away from the crowds and the pushing and shoving, to shop online.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;My mother, my aunts, and my cousins used to get up really early and go every year,&rdquo; Angie Rebman of Midlothian, Virginia, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tradition. We&rsquo;ll go again this year but it&rsquo;s more about nostalgia and less about getting a deal.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Becca Mendoza and Tammi Hines look at products as shoppers browse through Kohl&rsquo;s department store for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo\/Megan Varner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It&rsquo;s the same for Denish Shah, a professor of marketing at Georgia State University&rsquo;s Robinson College of Business.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I still recall queuing up outside stores waiting for those special deals that every retailer would advertise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Whereas now it goes over weeks, over multiple days, and most of the time the consumers are doing it from the comfort of their home through online sales.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Over the past half-decade, more shoppers have opted to go online than into stores on Black Friday, according to data from the National Retail Federation. Still, a record 186.9 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, according to NRF. The number is up more than 3 million total shoppers from 2024&rsquo;s record of 183.4 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The holidays are an important part of many consumers&rsquo; budgets, and that trend is especially true this season,&rdquo; NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen said. &ldquo;As a record number of shoppers are expected this Thanksgiving weekend, retailers are prepared to meet the needs of consumers with great value and convenience.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the buying frenzy forecast, Black Friday itself has lost the edge in the extended weekend shopping event. <\/p>\n<p>The day became popular because sales were the best on that day. But as the retail holiday became better known, shops started extending sales. They opened their doors earlier and earlier, some even on Thanksgiving. Then came the hefty pre-Black Friday sales. When shoppers also demanded more sales on more items, shops started spreading the discounts to almost every department. That meant, no huge deal on one or two products, but slightly lower prices on more items.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3898019\/target-partner-chatgpt-ai-assisted-shopping\/\">TARGET PARTNERS WITH CHATGPT TO OFFER AI-ASSISTED SHOPPING<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In other words,&rdquo; Cohen said, &ldquo;to sustain the ride, they started to dilute it.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Rebman, who still went shopping at Short Pump Mall in Richmond on Friday, added, &ldquo;We went as a family but it&rsquo;s just not the same anymore.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In-store Black Friday crowds dwindle as online sales soar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2646,"featured_media":2515497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/black-friday.jpeg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[45909,67874,67872,67873,46000],"class_list":["post-2515496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-black-friday","tag-holiday-sales","tag-in-store-crowds","tag-online-shopping","tag-retail-trends"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/black-friday.jpeg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2646"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2515496"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2515500,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515496\/revisions\/2515500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2515497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2515496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2515496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2515496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}