Specialty food retailers were among those who benefited as a record 189.6 million U.S. consumers shopped from Thanksgiving day through Cyber Monday this year, an increase of 14 percent over last year’s 165.8 million, the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics have found.
“Americans continue to start their holiday shopping earlier in the year, and Thanksgiving is still a critical weekend for millions,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Whether they’re looking for something unique on Main Street, making a trip to the store or searching for the best deals from their mobile device, this is when shoppers shift into high gear. With the condensed holiday season, consumers are feeling the pressure to get their shopping done in time. Even those who typically wait until the last minute to purchase gifts turned out in record numbers all weekend long.”
Shoppers spent an average $361.90 on holiday items over the five-day period, up 16 percent from $313.29 during the same period last year. Of the total, $257.33 (71 percent) was specifically spent on gifts. The biggest spenders were 25- to 34-year-olds at $440.46, closely followed by those 35-44 at $439.72.
The survey found that 124 million people shopped in stores while 142.2 million shopped on retailers’ websites; demonstrating today’s seamless shopping world, 75.7 million did both. Consumers who shopped in both channels spent an average $366.79, spending at least 25 percent more than those who shopped in only one or the other.
Black Friday was the busiest day for in-store activity, with 84.2 million shoppers, followed by Small Business Saturday (59.9 million), Thanksgiving Day (37.8 million), Sunday (29.2 million) and Cyber Monday (21.8 million). Of those shopping on Saturday, 73 percent were likely to shop specifically for Small Business Saturday.
For the first time, Black Friday topped Cyber Monday as the busiest day for online at 93.2 million shoppers compared with 83.3 million. Saturday followed at 58.2 million, Thanksgiving Day at 49.7 million and Sunday at 43.1 million.
With online and in-store shopping increasingly intermingled, free shipping was the biggest reason for shoppers to make a purchase they were otherwise hesitant about, cited by 49 percent, up from 42 percent last year. And the ability to order online and pick up in-store was cited by 20 percent, up from 15 percent last year. Other top factors included limited-time sales or promotions (36 percent) and an easy-to-use website or app (21 percent).
Thirty-nine percent of consumers looked to emails from retailers for information on deals and promotions, edging out conventional advertising circulars, which were tied with online search at 38 percent. Mobile devices played a significant role, used by 75 percent to research products, compare prices or make purchases, up from 66 percent last year.
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“The growth in online retail sales is a tide that lifts everybody,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “When consumers are buying from retailers online but picking up or making returns in-store, it is more and more difficult to distinguish between the sales retailers make in their stores and the ones they make on their websites.”
Top gift purchases over the weekend included apparel (bought by 58 percent of those surveyed), toys (33 percent), electronics (31 percent), books/music/movies/video games (28 percent) and gift cards (27 percent).
Shopping destinations included department stores (visited by 50 percent of those surveyed), clothing stores (36 percent), grocery stores (34 percent), electronics stores (32 percent) and discount stores (29 percent).
On average, consumers had completed 52 percent of their shopping, up from 44 percent during the same weekend last year, although Thanksgiving came six days earlier in 2018. The survey found only 39 percent of shoppers believe deals seen over the Thanksgiving weekend will get better throughout the rest of the season.
The popularity of Thanksgiving weekend shopping continues even as earlier NRF surveys found that 56 percent said they had already started as of the first week of November.
NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31 and has forecast that sales will total between $727.9 and $730.7 billion. Consumers expect to spend an average $1,047.83 – including purchases made earlier – for an increase of 4 percent over last year, according to NRF’s annual survey released in October.
The survey of 6,746 adult consumers was conducted last Wednesday through this Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
The Cheesemonger Invitational will hold their annual winter cheese party and competition in San Francisco on Sunday, January 19 at The Midway (900 Marin Street). The invitational is an all-you-can-eat evening of the best artisan cheeses and specialty foods from around the globe, and a one-of-a-kind competition among cheesemongers from Murray’s Cheese, Whole Foods, Harmon’s, Market Hall Foods and specialty cheese stores around the country. This is the event’s seventh year in San Francisco.
Beginning at 4:00 p.m., the public is welcome to sample cheese pairing bites prepared by the competitors, using cheese and specialty products from award-winning makers including Rogue Creamery, Nettle Meadow, Firefly Farms, Smoking Goose Meats, Girl Meats Dirt Jams and many more. In addition to endless cheese and charcuterie tables, ticket holders will also enjoy amazing cheese-focused dishes like raclette and grilled cheese.
The finals of the competition kicks off at 6:00 p.m., with the cheesemongers on stage competing in several tests to show off their skills to the crowd. In total, throughout the day the cheesemongers will compete in 10 tests, and the scores are tabulated to determine the winner. Tests include:
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“We are so excited to return to San Francisco and highlight the country’s best cheesemongers,” says event Founder Adam Moskowitz. “The finals party is a thrilling, whirlwind experience where the mongers showcase their love of cheese while the guests scream MOO BAA MAA and eat to their heart’s content.”
Tickets to this winter’s event at The Midway are now available for guests 21+ by visiting www.cheesemongerinvitational.com, and competitors from around the country will be announced in January. The invitational’s champion is awarded $1,000 cash and a guided trip to Europe by Columbia Cheese. Runners up also receive trips to visit cheesemakers in Vermont, Wisconsin and New York. In addition to the competition, the cheesemongers enjoy one free day of education learning at product-focused workshops from producers and importers , the generous hosts of the event.
A full list of this year’s hosts can be found online, including Cowgirl Creamery, Fromage Gruyere, Challerhocker, Vermont Creamery, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, The Cellars at Jasper Hill, Columbia Cheese, Essex St Cheese and Neal’s Yard Dairy.
By Lorrie Baumann
European cheeses and olive oils may be the next casualty in the Trump administration’s trade wars, and the Specialty Food Association is sounding the alarm. “Tariffs are not a legislative activity. No one has control over these,” said Ron Tanner, the SFA’s Vice President of Philanthropy, Government & Industry Relations at the American Cheese Society’s Annual Conference. “They come from the executive branch. No one can really control these things.”
Tariffs threatened by the Trump administration could be as much as 100 percent on virtually all cheeses, yogurts, kefirs, olive oils and a broad range of other products produced in the European Union and imported into the U.S. “It’s a big net that they’ve case, and it’s going to be every cheese and some of the charcuterie,” Tanner said. “A lot of pork products got included.”
The U.S. Trade Commission is currently taking public comments on the issue. The due date for submission of written comments on the proposal is August 5, when the U.S. International Trade Commission will hold a public hearing on the issue. Post-hearing rebuttal comments must be submitted by August 12. Written comments can be submitted at http://www.regulations.gov with docket number USTR-2019-0003.
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The tariff threat originates in a 14-year trade dispute between aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus. Airbus is subsidized by the EU and four of its member states: France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, and the U.S. filed a complaint about those subsidies to the World Trade Organization in 2004. In 2011, the WTO found that the EU provided $18 billion in subsidies to Airbus between 1968 and 2006 and that those subsidies caused Boeing to lose sales of more than 300 aircraft around the world. In response to the WTO judgment, the EU removed two minor subsidies but left the other unchanged and then granted Airbus an additional subsidy of more than $5 billion to help Airbus get its A350 XWB off the ground, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The U.S. complained about the EU’s failure to comply with the WTO’s finding, which resulted in an appellate finding that the EU subsidies to Airbus “have caused serious prejudice to U.S. interests,” according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Based on the appellate report, the U.S. requested authority to impose countermeasures worth $11.2 billion per year, and a WTO arbitrator is currently evaluating that request as well as the counter-argument advanced by the EU. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office expects that the WTO arbitrator will issue its report regarding the level of countermeasures that will be authorized later this summer. “The Administration is preparing to respond immediately when the WTO issues its finding on the value of U.S. countermeasures,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. “Our ultimate goal is to reach an agreement with the EU to end all WTO-inconsistent subsidies to large civil aircraft. When the EU ends these harmful subsidies, the additional U.S. duties imposed in response can be lifted.”
The proposed tariffs could have repercussions far beyond the higher prices that retailers will be forced to pass on to their customers. Although the tariffs won’t affect American cheese producers directly, it’s likely that the EU will impose retaliatory tariffs on American products, which could hurt companies that export cheese to Europe. Consumers could be disappointed and turned off cheese when they find fewer options in their favorite stores, according to Tanner. “It might mean that people buy less cheese, when they go to the cheese case and won’t see the stocks,” he said. “You can’t buy ahead on these cheeses because they are perishable.”
Although he doesn’t expect that the Specialty Food Association’s comments on the issue will stop the tariffs from taking effect, he’s expressing the specialty food industry’s objection to the proposal. “What we’re saying is that this is a dispute between aircraft companies, and small businesses should not be affected,” he said. “We’re picking on small ag businesses. That’s not the right way to go about doing it.”