After online shopping Thursday, consumers hit South Florida stores, malls on Black Friday

Herds of people — couples, families with kids and teenagers — Friday streamed into Aventura Mall, one of South Florida’s most popular shopping destinations.

They came for Black Friday’s main attraction — to shop for holiday gifts. Stores like Nike and Apple drew long lines that spilled outside the entries and inside at the cash registers as shoppers waited to pay for their items.

Still, 18-year-old Igor Albo from Sunrise said he’s seen bigger crowds the day after Thanksgiving at the mall. He stood in line with a handful of friends to shop at the recently opened Nike store. He came to Aventura for ambiance and the variety of retailers. He wanted to buy sneakers and other apparel at Nike and Lululemon and “if my card doesn’t get declined” Louis Vuitton.

Nike’s store’s manager, Igor Lukan, opened the sneaker and apparel shop 10 days ago. Lukan said he’s seen the same number of people on Friday that came for opening day and to shop earlier this week.

Miguel Camacho, 17, from Pembroke Pines joined the Friday rush at Aventura’s Nike store to buy sneakers to feature on his Instagram page. He buys the sneakers and then sells them for double or triple the price. He had visited two other area malls before arriving at the Aventura retail center.

People continue to buy, despite inflation, Camacho said, because, “You always need clothes and shoes. You always need to go to a mall.”

READ MORE: What time are Miami-area stores, malls open on Black Friday

Indeed, an estimated 166.3 million people plan to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade group. That’s almost 8 million more people than last year and is the highest estimate since the trade group began tracking this data in 2017.

“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” said Matthew Shay, CEO of the retail federation.

Earlier this month, the trade group predicted that U.S. holiday sales during November and December will increase between 6% and 8% over 2021 to reach up to $960.4 billion. Last year’s holiday tally swelled 13.5% over 2020 and totaled $889.3 billion, shattering previous records. Holiday retail sales have averaged an increase of 4.9% over the past 10 years, with pandemic spending in recent years accounting for considerable gains.

In other parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties on Friday, shoppers jammed into Walmart and Target big-box stores trying to get their hands on the hot toys and electronics of the holiday season. Some stood in line at 5 a.m. or earlier knowing there would be limited supplies of certain must-have gifts.

At the Aventura Mall, there were plenty of advertised markdowns to lure shoppers. Albo said he’s seen stores selling goods discounted 30% to 60% and offering deals to buy one and get another at half price.

To snag those bargains, shoppers did have to endure longer-than-usual wait times to pay.

Karla Nuñez, 18, drove down from West Palm Beach to shop with friends who live near Aventura Mall. They arrived in the morning and were waiting in Zara to buy items. Midway through the line, Nuñez said she was waiting for 20 minutes alone in Zara, just so her friends could pay. She was on the hunt for winter clothes, yet she hadn’t found any good deals. She held out hope she could find something at the H&M store.

The Black Friday crowd at the mall featured shoppers from all over South Florida and the globe, like Rio de Janeiro native Isabella Martins. Martins traveled to Miami with her fiancé. A friend told her about Black Friday deals and Martins rushed to the Aventura retail complex. She stood outside Hermès store, waiting to step in and buy a new purse. She planned to later stop by Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

Independent retailers garner sales bump

In Coral Gables, shoppers dipped in and out of boutique stores on Miracle Mile and around Giralda Plaza. Merchants welcomed customers who streamed out of one of the many sports bars, marketplaces and restaurants that showcased the FIFA World Cup’s England vs. USA game Friday afternoon.

Stores like Stem offered Black Friday deals. Sales associate Catherine Gonzalez said select jewel-colored satin and silk dresses, jumpsuits, tops and gemstone adorned jewelry were marked down 20% to 50%. The discounts would be even deeper on Small Business Saturday, she said.

Veranda Plants and Gifts, a tiny store tucked away in a breezeway along Miracle Mile, had 15 customers pop in by Friday afternoon. That’s nearly double the number of customers on a regular day, owner Erica des Roches said.

People want retail therapy, she said, especially in a time with worrisome headlines about inflation and a looming potential recession.

Meanwhile, Friday’s turnout at Aventura Mall pleased Crystal Rouhani, vice president of marketing and business development. Her staff tracks the number of visitors each year. The mall expects over 4 million shoppers in November and December. That would exceed annual foot traffic totals during each of the last three holiday shopping seasons, she said, without providing specific numbers.

The traditional stampede to the malls on Black Friday isn’t for everyone anymore. Many consumers prefer to do most of their holiday shopping online from home. And many people in South Florida and around the country did just that on the Thursday holiday while most stores in Broward and Miami-Dade counties were closed.

Thanksgiving Day shopping

In between eating Thanksgiving Day turkey and pumpkin pie, consumers used their phones to shop for holiday season deals.

All the tapping and clicking led to a record $5.3 billion in online spending on Thanksgiving, according to Adobe Analytics, an e-commerce firm that tracks digital spending. Despite lingering inflation, that’s almost 3% more spent than last year on turkey day.

Enticed by big discounts on toys and electronics, people used smartphones rather than laptops and other computer devices for 55% of online holiday purchases Thursday, up 8.3% from a year ago.

“Mobile shopping had struggled to grow for many years, as consumers found the experience lacking compared to desktop,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement. “Thanksgiving this year has become an inflection point, where smartphones drove real growth and highlights how much these experiences have improved.”

Through the first 24 days of November, consumers spent $77.7 billion online, according to Adobe’s tally.

On Black Friday — once the traditional robust start to department store holiday shopping before online buying emerged in a big way — more consumers than last year not fearful of crowds in the ongoing pandemic are expected to venture out to malls to make more purchases on their shopping lists, retail experts said. However, Adobe predicted another $9 billion of holiday buying Friday on mobile phones.

During the big cyber holiday weekend shopping spree from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, Adobe projected $34.8 billion in online spending, up 2.8% over last year.

After a Sunday respite to watch football or World Cup soccer, people in droves are expected to return to digital shopping on Cyber Monday and tap out another $11.2 billion in purchases, making it the biggest online shopping day of the year.

The big question for bricks-and-mortar South Florida retailers beyond the Thanksgiving holiday weekend push is how much of consumers’ holiday spending this year will take place in their stores.