On the eve of Thanksgiving

Surveys in the US show that 57% of consumers may not go to physical shops this Black Friday due to the risk of COVID-19 contamination. This could impact sales of chains such as Walmart, Target, Macy's, Dick’s Sporting Goods and others.

Many retail chains, including Walmart (WMT), the largest supermarket chain, have already stated that they will count the number of concurrent visitors in the shop and limit traffic.

According to a survey conducted by Deloitte between 9 October and 2 November, 57% of consumers said they were worried about shopping in physical shops on public holidays due to the coronavirus pandemic.

61% of those surveyed said they were either 'unsure' or 'not planning to' shop with family and friends during Thanksgiving week. 74% plan to shop online.

The vice chairman of Deloitte Rodney Sides said: "I assume that this percentage is even higher now. The pandemic is forcing people to look for goods on the internet".

On Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans not to go shopping on a holiday.

Macy's CEO, Jeffrey Gennette, said the company expects to reduce traffic in shops on Black Friday.

For the first time in the history of the Deloitte study before Thanksgiving, more consumers are planning to shop online on Black Friday than in shops.

The discount season in the United States began in mid-October as physical retailers followed the Prime Day Amazon sales to compete with the online shop.

Walmart divided Black Friday into three separate sales starting from 4 November and promoted each of them in its online shop. Apple will be selling AirPods Pro at a discount of $50 and Apple Watch Series 3 at a discount of $60 online only.

Best Buy has also followed this path by publishing all the promotions and discounts on its website, limiting sales to online access only to reduce long queues and crowds. The Target network attracted customers with the Drive Up service, which became very popular during the pandemic as it allows them to pick up their online orders without leaving their car. The number of purchases through Drive Up increased by 500% in 3Q.