Black Friday traffic dropped by 28.3% when compared to 2019, as Americans began shopping online earlier and shifted their spending more frequently, according Sensormatic Solutions’ preliminary data.

Traffic increased by 47.5% in comparison to year-ago levelsSensormatic confirmed this. Many shoppers were forced to stay home in 2020 due to concerns about the pandemic coronavirus and because retailers had reduced working hours.

Brian Field from Sensormatic’s senior director for global retail consulting, said, “It is clear that shoppers are shopping earlier this year, just like they did last season.” He stated that two of the main factors shoppers are buying more holiday gifts are their ongoing concerns over Covid, and the worries surrounding the supply chain.

Sensormatic stated that Black Friday sales were peak between 1 and 3 p.m., continuing the trend of past years. Sensormatic still predicts Black Friday to be the most popular day to shop in stores.

Sensormatic revealed that brick-and-mortar store visits increased by 90.4% on Thanksgiving Day compared to 2019 levels. The following retailers are included Target, WalmartAnd Best BuyThey decided not to open their doors for customers during the holiday. Target said that the permanent shift will take place.

Field stated that Black Friday shopper traffic was the closest to returning back to 2019, with the South being followed closely by the Midwest, West and Northeast. According to Field, consumers didn’t behave differently on that day due to mounting concerns about the Covid variant omicron.

“If there are any outbreaks of disease in the U.S.A, what would you do? [traffic down]Field explained that the only way to stop governments from locking themselves down is if they do so again.” Field said, “Otherwise I believe the trends will look very similar to how we anticipate them to.”

Black Friday was a busy day for online retailers. down from the record of about $9 billion spent on the Friday after Thanksgiving a year earlierAccording to Adobe Analytics data, it was. Adobe claimed that this was the first ever time growth has reversed since the previous year. Adobe analyzes more than one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, with over 100 million items in 18 different product categories.

Adobe reported that Thanksgiving Day saw a flat $5.1 billion in internet purchases compared to the previous year.

These numbers show that holiday shopping has become longer as Americans shop earlier than usual, starting as early as October. Retailers are also spreading their promotions. According to a survey from the National Retail FederationThe leading trade organization in retail, 61% had purchased holiday gifts prior to Thanksgiving.

“Shoppers are being strategic in their gift shopping, buying much earlier in the season and being flexible about when they shop to make sure they get the best deals,” said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.

Adobe predicts that Cyber Monday’s e-commerce sales will be between $10.2 billion to $11.3 billion.

Shoppers should expect to see a range of merchandise out of stock due to supply chain issues that have caused inventory levels to snarl for certain companies.

Adobe says that retailers’ out-of-stock messages have increased by 124% over Friday levels compared with pre-pandemic. Adobe indicated that the most stock-out rate areas are appliances, electronics and housekeeping supplies.