Inflation worries drive bargain hunt among Black Friday shoppers

FORT WAYNE, Indiana/NORTH BERGEN, New Jersey/RALEIGH, North Carolina/SANTA BARBARA, California, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Brushing snowflakes off her hair, Teagan Hickson walked into a Walmart (WMT.N), Supercenter in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with hopes of picking up a few holiday deals on Black Friday. The first thing the mother of two spotted: A pallet stacked high with Gourmia digital air fryer ovens for $50 each.

Her sister Jordan had been wanting one, she said, but money was tight right now for everyone in her family. She worried about expenses next year, after reading posts on Facebook about price hikes if President-elect Donald Trump’s planned tariffs go into effect in January.

“I’m trying to not spend too much,” said Hickson, 43. “I don’t want to add to my credit cards, but I don’t want to pay more for stuff next year.”

As retailers reopened U.S. stores after the American Thanksgiving holiday, some locations drew clusters of shoppers. People were eager to see stores’ Black Friday discounts, often comparing them to rivals’ prices for similar merchandise online.

Weighing on the minds of many Americans: Should prices rise in 2025 as a result of Trump’s move to implement new tariffs on some U.S. imports, consumers like Hickson could feel impact at grocery stores and restaurants, potentially driving up their living costs.

At the Walmart, Hickson called her husband Josh, who was sitting in front of his computer at home and ready to compare prices in the store with what they could find online.

“Baby, this looks pretty nice,” she told Josh. “What’s it online?” A few seconds later, Josh found a similar model on Amazon (AMZN.O), for double the price. She grabbed a box, put it in her cart, and headed deeper into the big-box store.

Walmart, which operates 4,700 U.S. stores, offered deals on Samsung TVs, Dyson vacuum cleaners, Lego and Hot Wheels toys, Levi’s jeans, and air fryers.

“I find the prices pretty much the same as last year,” said Cristal Lopez as she pushed a cart full of clothing and a couple of sling tote bags through the aisles of a North Bergen, New Jersey, Walmart Supercenter. She intends to spend $1,000 to $2,000 total – same as last year – on holiday purchases, mostly on clothing.

Americans bought more merchandise using their mobile phones and laptops, spending $7.9 billion online through 6:30 p.m. ET (1130 GMT), up 8.2% compared to a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics, which keeps track of devices that use Adobe’s software to help power more than 1 trillion visits  to  U.S. retail sites.

Shoppers looking to upgrade their TVs found discounts peaking at 24% off listed price, according to Adobe’s analysis of retailers’ online prices. On average, retailers offered 25% discounts to shoppers globally, compared to 26% a year ago, on websites and apps as late-afternoon Eastern time, according to Salesforce, a cloud-based software company that analyses e-commerce traffic patterns.

Still, the U.S. retail trade group the National Retail Federation expects roughly 85.6 million shoppers have visited stores this year, up from 76 million last year. Shoppers have only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, against a more leisurely 31 days last year.

Adding pressure for retailers is inflation-fatigued shoppers’ reluctance to splurge unless they get good deals.

“With fewer days to shop, consumers are more likely to make spontaneous purchases, contributing to retail growth during the holiday season,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail adviser at Circana, a research firm.

Evelyn Contre, 49, waited in a 20-person line at a Lululemon (LULU.O), store with her two daughters. Contre had already browsed the websites of Abercrombie (ANF.N), and Lululemon on Thursday for Black Friday deals before heading into Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday.

Early crowds were sparse at a Macy’s (M.N), store in Santa Barbara, California despite its discounts reaching 50% for home goods and clothing. Retiree John Dillard, 66, was shopping for Levi’s 504 jeans, which Macy’s offered at 40% off their usual $60 price. Bargains were important to him, he said.

Target (TGT.N), is selling a new Taylor Swift Eras Tour book, and exclusive “Wicked”-related products, including “Wicked” soundtrack CDs for $39.99, with an offer of buy two, get one free for Target Circle members.

The retailer also cut prices by $100 on products such as a 75-inch Westinghouse TV and Nintendo Switch gaming console, and took more than 50% off Barbie dolls, Keurig coffee machines and KitchenAid mixers, deals which started on Thanksgiving and run through Saturday.

“Black Friday is just not what it used to be,” said Hoss Moss, a 58-year-old chef from New Jersey, who stood outside a Target store for the first time in 15 years to buy Swift’s book, for his teenage daughter.

“Grocery prices are expensive and … even clothing is not at a price you would get before.” He said his family of four plans to spend $2,000 to $3,000 on gifts this year, mostly at Macy’s (M.N), and Lululemon (LULU.O).