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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Despite the national unemployment rate hitting its highest level in four years, 4.4%, shoppers are projected to set another record.
The National Retail Federation projects 189 million people will shop from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. That would be an all-time high.
The federation also projects that most sales will be online. But many people still got up early Friday to take part in the customary Black Friday shopping experience.
Connor Sexton joined a few dozen others waiting for Walmart’s doors to open at 6 a.m.
“Waking up at 5 a.m. and coming out, it’s just kind of unbeatable,” Sexton said while standing in line at the supercenter’s Wendover Road location.
The day is a family tradition, and over the years he said he has been able to score some great deals with his family.
“I think there’s like an experience behind it, and I love it. As things shift towards online, I want to kind of keep a tradition of going in person, because I think it’s a different experience and one that people need,” he said.
Across the street, on South 40 Drive, Daniel Collins visited the Best Buy in search for a deal on an Apple watch.
“I’ve come here before, just like to kind of people watch, but I never went inside because my parents were like, ‘Be careful. Don’t get run over,” Collins said.
This year, Collins said there were no large crowds, and he was able to get in and out within just 15 minutes of it opening.
“If you come back here in 2010, we’d be still waiting in that line right there to go inside,” he said.
As more people choose to shop on the internet, employees said the once-overwhelming lines have died down.
According to the retail federation, online Black Friday shoppers outnumbered in-person shoppers by more than 5 million in 2024.
There are also many shoppers like Stephan Hamad who shop sales online and in person.
“If there’s something that you didn’t get on Black Friday, there’s things that are specific that they didn’t sell in the store, you can still find it, still get a good deal on it,” he said.
Hamad bought his son a four-wheeler online earlier this week and a PS5 in person at Best Buy on Friday.
Adobe Analytics is expecting global Black Friday sales to top $80 billion, with $11 billion of that projected to be online.
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Sasha Strong
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