Those door-buster lines that many are used to seeing on Black Friday are becoming more of a rarity as more people are turning to online purchases and other cyber deals.
Local shoppers tell NBC Palm Springs that this year’s holiday rush was minimal but enjoyable.
“When we got here this parking lot was pretty empty, like maybe 20 cars at 7, 7 o’clock,” exclaimed Tawny Auer, Palm Desert resident.
As shoppers braced themselves for doorbuster deals, many questioned, where are the lines?
“There wasn’t a mad rush and we kind of like that, we don’t need to be with the crazy but it was nice just to see that it wasn’t out of control by any means,” said Dianne Branson, Palm Desert resident.
Though store lines may be shorter this year, experts are still expecting record sales, saying shoppers started earlier this year because of supply chain concerns.
“Almost half of the shoppers started browsing and buying before November this year. for reference, that’s up from 42 percent last year,” said Katherine Cullen with the National Retail Federation.
Online retailers are also expecting big numbers this year, as more and more shoppers turn to score their Black Friday deal online.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday have always been big days for Amazon, so we think this year is going to be even bigger and even better,” said Kat Scarpa, Spokesperson with Amazon.
“Currently right now a lot of people are probably at home ordering online compared to like years ago when we were all coming out to the stores, it was long lines, sometimes it wasn’t the best energy, but now we have a separation, and I believe because of online shopping it has really helped,” explained Mario Mathurin, Palm Desert Resident.
And as online sales continue to increase, some shoppers say they will still shop in person for the fun of it.
“I wanted to see people in person, I didn’t want to be in the house with just me and my wife, so I wanted to come out and just enjoy the experience. It’s very nice, I’m glad we do it every year,” added Mathurin.
“We’re just glad to be out, and we see people aren’t probably out as much because maybe there are fears, but everybody was pretty open about things people want to wear when they want to wear masks, people don’t. But it’s been nice,” said Branson.
Experts also suggest if you see something you absolutely need on your gift list, you may want to buy it, as some products will become harder to find.
