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Summer’s barely begun, and retailers are already making holiday plans.
On Friday, Walmart announced its doors will be closed again for Thanksgiving Day, following Target’s lead.
- “[It] is one way we’re saying ‘thank you’ to our teams for their dedication and hard work this year,” Dacona Smith, EVP and COO for Walmart US, said in a statement.
It’s a good-will play, letting store employees enjoy the holiday at home. But the broader shift to e-commerce likely played a role in the decision too.
Add to cart: Walmart’s online sales for Thanksgiving and Black Friday rose 28% in 2020, Edison Trends data shows. Overall US digital sales spiked 20% on Thanksgiving Day and 23% on Black Friday, compared to 2019, per Salesforce data.
- According to Adobe Analytics, Thanksgiving Day e-comm sales topped $5 billion for the first time.
The takeaway: While e-comm didn’t completely make up for in-store sales lost last year, the pandemic sped up digital adoption faster than one-day shipping.—JG