Shoppers line up for Black Friday deals despite Covid with retailers beefing up security to enforce social distancing
SHOPPERS have risked exposing themselves to coronavirus in hopes of scoring Black Friday deals as brick-and-mortar retailers anticipate much-needed business after months of lagging sales due to the pandemic.
American shoppers appeared to ignore social distancing rules as images taken around the country showed dozens of people - some without masks - waiting for stores to let them in early Friday morning.
Most major retailers were closed on Thanksgiving this year due to the pandemic, giving much-needed relief to retail employees who have shown up to work amid the global health crisis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week deemed shopping in crowded stores on or before Thanksgiving as a "higher-risk" activity.
Due to the nationwide rise in Covid cases and deaths, the federal agency has urged shoppers to avoid shopping in-store and look for deals online instead.
But that didn't stop eager shoppers from getting a head start on lining up for deals, with some people even camping out in front of stores in , and .
In Florida, shoppers reportedly ran through malls hoping to be the first ones in line, while people in and even some stores in started lining up overnight.
Black Friday typically marks the start of the US holiday shopping season with steep discounts that pay off in significant profit for the businesses offering them.
Major retailers like Target, Kohl’s, and Walmart rolled out winter holiday promotions online a month ahead of the shopping bonanza to capitalize on early holiday spending.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasts a year-to-year holiday sales increase between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent, for a total of $755.3billion to $766.7billion, a spike from the five-year average yearly increase of 2.5 percent.
Online sales could see even more gains this holiday season, with more than half of US shoppers expected to buy online on Black Friday.
Cyber Monday, the Monday after , will hold its spot as the biggest online shopping day of 2020 with more than $12.7million in sales.
Even as health officials around the globe encouraged people to stay home and shop online, Walmart offered incentives just for shoppers who came into its stores.
But Lindsey Cox, of Thomasville, , said she doesn’t plan to visit Walmart on Black Friday despite the tempting in-store deals.
"I could not justify going into the store right now," the stay-at-home mother of three told Reuters. The savings is "not worth the tradeoff" of her or her family potentially being exposed to people who may be infected with , she said.
It appears that other shoppers shared a similar mindset - although hundreds lined up at stores, the pandemic has thinned out the typically chaotic crowds at most US businesses.
A surge in online shopping could give struggling retailers a boost after months of slumping sales and businesses on the brink of bankruptcy.
More than half of US shoppers expect to shop online on Black Friday, despite 75 percent of consumers taking advantage of seasonal sales, which started earlier this year, an predicted.
But 55 percent of consumers surveyed said that Black Friday sales feel less special this year due to early promotions ahead of the event.
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As of Friday, more than 12.9 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus.
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More than 263,500 people have died from Covid-related illnesses since the start of the pandemic in March.
The country is averaging more than 1,650 deaths per day, according to data from .
