ARLINGTON, Va. , Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The holiday shopping season is here. Many local in-person events, such as popup holiday markets or craft fairs, have moved online as a precaution to the pandemic. Scammers are creating phony copycat events that charge for admission and steal credit card information.
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An annual holiday market or another shopping event is announced that it will be held virtually this year. After searching for details online and finding a social media post or event page, you happen to notice a large detail is also different this year. The event, traditionally free in the past, is now requiring a paid ticket.
Were you following this:
Amazon sales surge during a record-breaking holiday shopping season - CNN
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As the holiday season gets underway, health experts have said to avoid shopping in stores when possible, according to the Associated Press.
Instead, the CDC recommends shopping online, visiting outdoor markets, or using curbside pickup, where workers bring orders outside to you. If you need to enter a store, instead go during off-hours when there are likely to be fewer people, generally early in the morning or later at night. Wear a mask, stay at least 6 feet away from others, and shop quickly.
Online Shopping, Virus in Winter, Stock Market: Your Monday Evening Briefing - The New York Times
Consumers spent $9 billion on the web on Friday, a 21.6 percent increase over Black Friday in 2019. The surge in online sales is expected to be outdone today during Cyber Monday, a promotional event that internet retailers concocted in 2005.
Physical stores, however, appear to have had more of a "bleak Friday." A large portion of consumer spending had moved online long before the pandemic, but the global health crisis is accelerating that trend.
The holiday shopping season comes at a critical moment for the U.S. economy, which is struggling again as the number of coronavirus cases is soaring amid colder weather.
Quite a lot has been going on:
US shopping app downloads on Black Friday reached a record 2.8M installs – TechCrunch
However, this number doesn’t necessarily represent faster growth than in 2019, which also saw about an 8% year-over-year increase in Black Friday shopping app installs, the report noted. This could be because mobile shopping and the related app installs are now taking place throughout the month of November, though, as retailers adjusted to the pandemic and other online shopping trends by hosting earlier sales or even month-long sales events.
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Another shift taking place in mobile shopping is the growing adoption of apps from brick-and-mortar retailers. During the first three quarters of 2020, apps from brick-and-mortar retailers grew installs 27%. This trend continued on Black Friday, when five out of the top 10 mobile shopping apps were those from brick-and-mortar retailers, led by Walmart.
'Bleak Friday' for Stores as Pandemic Pushes Holiday Shopping Online - The New York Times
Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimated that retailers' overall Black Friday sales fell 20 percent from last year, based on early reports of drops in store foot traffic and increases in online sales. Consumers spent $9 billion online on Friday, a 21.6 increase from last year and the second-biggest figure for online retailers ever, according to Adobe Analytics , which scans 80 percent of online transactions across the top 100 U.S. web retailers.
"This wasn't a Black Friday, it was a bleak Friday in stores," said David Bassuk, global co-head of the retail practice at AlixPartners, a consulting firm. "It is such a stark contrast to past years. The stores were really ghost towns."
Black Friday 2020: Weekend's spending drops, National Retail Federation says
Fewer holiday shoppers bought gifts during the five-day period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, and those who did spent less, as discounts started early this year, according to the National Retail Federation.
The retail trade group said about 186.4 million shoppers bought holiday gifts, food or decorations from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. That's less than the 189.6 million shoppers who bought items during that period last year, but higher than the 165.8 million who shopped in 2018.
Is shopping in stores safe during the pandemic? | The Seattle Times
Instead, the agency recommends shopping online, visiting outdoor markets or using curbside pickup, where workers bring orders to your car.
If you need to enter a store, go during off hours when there will likely be fewer people. Wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet away from others.
Try to spend as little time inside the store as possible, says Dr. Isaac Weisfuse, a public health expert at Cornell University.
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Use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol when you leave, and then wash your hands with soap and water when you get home.
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