#More Americans turn to online shopping on Black Friday: survey

For the first time on Black Friday, more shoppers will be buying their gifts online than in stores, according to a survey.

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to surge across the country, 58 percent of consumers are ditching long-held traditions of trekking out to shopping malls and stores to scoop up bargains, making their purchases on the web instead, according to a Deloitte survey of 1,200 shoppers between Oct. 9 and Nov. 2.

Just 41 percent of shoppers say they plan to shop in brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday, the survey found.

Consumer anxiety has ratcheted up since September, when 51 percent said they were nervous about shopping in stores. In November, that number rose to 57 percent, according to the survey.

Overall, consumers expect to spend $401 on Thanksgiving weekend, representing a 3.3 percent decline from a year ago over the same Thursday-to-Monday period.

Economic uncertainty is a major factor, holiday shoppers say, with 28 percent worried about being able to cover their basic expenses including rent, mortgage, auto and credit-card payments, the survey found.

Just over 40 percent of consumers said their financial situation had deteriorated since September.

Those intrepid consumers who say they plan to shop in person are less inclined to do so early in the morning this year, with 46 percent predicting that they will start between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. or later compared with 36 percent who say they will start from midnight to 6 a.m.