What: Foot traffic drops by half at U.S. stores on Black Friday.

Why it is important: Overall consumer spending had remained strong.

Traffic levels across the U.S. on Black Friday dropped about 50% year-on-year while older shoppers had shunned malls over concerns they might contract Covid-19. At the same time, a jump in ecommerce orders among those who had never shopped online before helped digital sales rise 22% from a year ago to US$9bn. Those who did visit stores were more likely to buy and the conversion rate increased 4 points from a year ago, while the average transaction value rose 5.9%, RetailNext found. Bricks and mortar revenues still dropped about 30% while in-store and kerbside collection increased 52 %.

Foot traffic drops by half at US stores on ‘Grey Friday’