More shoppers will let their fingers do the walking this Black Friday.
According to projections by shopping advice site BestBlackFriday.com, online sales are expected to rise 13.3 percent year over year to a record $3.1 billion on Nov. 25, compared with a nearly 10 percent decline in Black Friday in-store sales.
Same holds true for Thanksgiving Day, with online sales up just shy of 20 percent to $2.1 billion, vs. a 10.2 percent decline to $1.6 billion in stores.
Why the shift? According to rival sale site Bfads.net, retailers will offer more of their best doorbuster promotions online and via mobile this year, and consumers will be all too willing to avoid the crowds and crazy hours by shopping from the convenience home.
BestBlackFriday co-founder Phil Dengler said he based his projections on an analysis of over 150 ads and thousands of products from last year’s sales.
Among his other informed prognostications:
*Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon will once again have the lowest average discounts at around 30 percent off.
*JCPenney and Kohl’s will have the highest at about 65 percent, and the average Black Friday discount will be roughly 38 percent.
*The first ad leak of the season will arrive Oct. 10, revealing the deals planned by Harbor Freight, followed by those of Target, Best Buy and Walmart on Nov. 8, 9 and 10.
*Amazon will run daily Black Friday countdown sales throughout the month of November.
*Kmart will have the earliest Thanksgiving Day in-store sale, beginning at 6 a.m.
A complete rundown of BestBlackFriday’s forecasts, including CE sale pricing, can be found here.
