Holiday Shopping Frenzy In Full Swing
AVENTURA (CBSMiami) – The shopping frenzy is in full swing as folks are no longer waiting for Black Friday.
People were out and about Wednesday to meet their shopping demands.
"We almost think of Thanksgiving now as the halfway point rather than the kick off," said Katherine Cullen, the Senior Director of Industry and Consumer Insights for the National Retail Federation.
According to the National Retail Federation, this year's holiday shopping season is bigger and started much earlier.
"Almost half of shoppers started browsing and buying before November this year. For reference, that's up from 42% last year," added Cullen.
Folks like Raphael DeLeo were among that group, going to the mall Wednesday hoping to take advantage of early deals and avoid the Black Friday rush.
"It's too crazy for Black Friday. We want to make sure we do it before," said DeLeo.
A survey from the NRF finds many other shoppers who started their holiday shopping early cited concerns about supply chain issues, inventory and high demand. An issue that had some shoppers like Neil David searching harder than before for deals.
"I'm not finding something that I like, but there pretty good prices. Higher than it's use to be, but I'm sure I will find something," added David.
But there are bargains and big box retailers like Macy's, Walmart, Target and Best Buy, who started the deals early. NRF is also forecasting record holiday spending, predicting a 10% jump to $859 billion. Still, there are some who have no intentions of breaking the bank
"I'm looking more towards saving my money," said Chanice Leslie.
But spend or not, one things certain shoppers were out in droves.
"It's good to see everyone out again after everything that has happened but it's good atmosphere and I hope it's going to continue like that," said David.
A list of some of the black Friday deals from some major retailers is below
