Black Friday, the official kickoff of Shopmas®, is here once again.
Whether you are spending time with friends and family or are out consuming, please consider a few specific items:
• The United States has been wildly overstored for at least 2 decades: the U.S. has 7.3 square feet of retail space per capita, versus 1.7 square feet per capita in Japan and France
• Online sales 10% of consumer sales for the full calendar year 2018. This can get much worse for much longer than many people expect, and will rise to close to 14% by 2021.
• Even without the threat of the internet, Retail was due for a massive retrenchment: From 1995 – 2015, the number of shopping centers increased > 23%; total gross leasable square footage rose 30%, even as the US population gained less than 14%.
• Changing tastes, habits and trends are not just impacting retail, but real estate, employment and the environment.
• Forecast of how much spending will happen today, this weekend and the entire holiday season are always too optimistic. Black Friday #Fails
• Experiences continue to gain versus consumer goods;
E-commerce share of total retail sales in United States from 2013 to 2021
Sources: Statista
