Black Friday (and Thanksgiving) retail sales imploded this year. Sales are down 10% from each day last year.
The two dates accumulated a projected $12.1 billion in combined sales, which is an estimated decrease versus 2014.
Specifically, Thanksgiving Day, a notably controversial day for retail, grossed an estimated $1.8 billion in sales, while Black Friday garnered an estimated $10.4 billion in sales.
Without great deals, there’s no point in shoppers performing a live reenactment of the Hunger Games, and there is increasingly less and less of a reason for retailers to offer great deals. The narrative of a mom heading out on the Friday after Thanksgiving and blowing entirety of the family’s holiday budget at the first two stores she visits is less and less tenable.
Update: Mo points us to The Atlantic redirecting us to Barry Ritholtz saying that there may be serious issues with these numbers.