The True Black Friday Experience Just Isn’t Available Online

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Black Friday is almost here, and plenty of shoppers will opt for swiping and tapping on their phones instead of bumping and elbowing their way through the mall.

But the changing nature of this American-invented shopping holiday should hardly be taken as a signal that physical stores don’t matter. While consumers say they plan to spend more online than in stores, the data suggests that is not actually what will happen. The National Retail Federation estimates that holiday retail sales this year will total between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion, and of that haul, only about 23% — between $162.6 billion and $166.9 billion — will be composed of online and other non-store sales.

So there’s no reason old-school chains should resign themselves to eating Amazon.com Inc.’s dust during the most important shopping stretch of the year.

For a substantial group of shoppers, getting deals and checking off gift lists is not the primary goal of Black Friday shopping expeditions. Throngs of people are poised to visit stores on Thursday night just for the sport of it.

For these consumers, convenience is not the point. They are seeking something social and experiential, and that’s a huge opportunity for brick-and-mortar retailers. It’s a testament to the extent to which lively displays, well-stocked shelves and strong customer service can lure people into opening their wallets.

Crucially, it is younger shoppers — the most coveted demographic group for retailers — who are most likely to say that they’ll be joined by family and friends for their in-store shopping over the long holiday weekend.

That may come as a surprise given the perception that members of Generation Z, in particular, have their eyes on their phones all day long. But, in fact, it’s consistent with other data that suggests even these digital natives sincerely like going to stores. Gen Z consumers do most of their shopping in physical stores, just like their older counterparts. And they like them for the reasons you might expect, including the social aspect of it and the ability touch or try items on.

In other words: There simply isn’t good evidence that Generation Z is soon going to deal some sort of fatal blow to brick-and-mortar store shopping.

Stores also remain important because, at this point in retail’s digital transformation, they are an essential component of a well-run e-commerce strategy. Many customers are opting to pick up online orders in stores, providing an opportunity to sell them on additional items. Store workers and inventory are crucial to fulfilling many of the online orders that show up on doorsteps. At Target Corp., for example, physical stores fulfilled almost 75% of online orders in last year’s holiday quarter. That means a well-stocked and -considered merchandise assortment, and a carefully deployed labor force,  are critical to keeping both in-store and online shoppers happy.

Besides, physical store shopping is rarely a totally analog process these days anyway. You might read online reviews of a coat, but buy it in-store only you’ve had the chance to try it on. Or a 4K TV might catch your eye during a stroll through a big-box store, but you might end up buying it online later after you’ve had the chance to make sure the size is right for your family room.

Black Friday will no doubt be a booming day for e-commerce, with a projected $7.5 billion in online spending. But investments in extensive store renovations (such as those by Target) or a focus on new worker-scheduling systems (such as at Lowe’s Cos.) remain vital. Physical stores will be part of the defensive strategy against Amazon for the foreseeable future — and retailers are right to go to great lengths to make them enticing.

Non-store sales include options such as catalog sales and door-to-door selling.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Sarah Halzack is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She was previously a national retail reporter for the Washington Post.

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