Thanksgiving sales: Old Navy and Macy’s top charts

ANALYSIS_ With Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday all come and gone now, retailers in general and US-based ones in particular, are reviewing their performance in the most closely followed shopping event of the year to accordingly

prepare for the rest of the festive session. Old Navy and Macy’s have been the Black Friday’s winners according to Place Insights.

The US National Retail Federation stressed that Thanksgiving weekend sales declined 2.7 percent on a year-on-year basis, being that of this year the first drop in 7 years. Average spend also decreased, according to the retail industry body, which stated that on average, shoppers spent 4 percent less than last year.

These data have awakened some concerns within the industry, as holiday season is the most important period of the year for retailers, sales-wise. As highlighted by ‘Nasdaq’, “retailers normally rake up 40 percent of their annual income in the holiday season, and this holiday season sales was off to a slow start.”

With this is mind, the majority of retailers are now looking closely at their sales in November to better address the Christmas session, explained market sources consulted by FashionUnited.

Thanksgiving is a key sales period for retailers, traditionally in the US but, this year, also worldwide. The Americal National Retail Federation expects a 602.1 billion dollar turnover (445 billion euro), that’s a 3.9 percent ahead of last year’s results. The institution said that average consumer will nevertheless spend 2 percent less, 737.95 dollars (545 euro).

Looking ahead, the weak sales over the Thanksgiving weekend might force retailers to take bigger markdowns that could hurt their December results.

Macy’s and Old Navy, top gainers of Black Friday

According to data gathered by Placed, Macy’s was the winner among department stores, ranking as the top gainer in weekly traffic share followed by JC Penney, Kohl’s, and Sears. Old Navy and Victoria’s Secret, secured 2 of the top 3 spots in the top-gainers ranking, with American Eagle showing strong showing in store traffic.

Walmart was by far the top shopping destination this Black Friday, beating out its nearest competitor, Target, with more than twice the share of total shoppers.