Black Friday experience just isn’t available online

Plenty of shoppers opt for swiping and tapping on their phones instead of bumping and elbowing their way through the mall on Black Friday .
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 (NRF) 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.
For the 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 say that they have been joined by family and friends for their in-store shopping. That comes 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.
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 is no doubt a booming day for e-commerce, with a projected $7.5 billion in online spending. But investments in extensive store renovations or a focus on new worker-scheduling systems 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.
—Bloomberg