Black Friday sales slow as effects of inflation continue to be felt

On one of the biggest shopping days of the year, overall spending on Black Friday is expected to be lower than in previous years as shoppers continue to feel the effects of inflation.

In the United States consumers spent a record $5.6 billion online on Thursday alone, up 5.5 per cent from last year.

Though many still headed to stores for door-crasher deals, crowds documented this year are not what they used to be.

With many stores offering deals all week, or even all month long, there were fewer people lining sidewalks to get day-of deals.

Those deals are happily being welcomed by Canadians who are feeling the pressure of soaring inflation rates.

Deloitte is predicting that the average Canadian shopper will spend around $13 hundred dollars this holiday season, which is down 11 per cent since the previous year.

E-commerce company Shopify says that by mid-afternoon on Friday, its online merchants had seen customers spending an average of $172.80 on purchases.

WATCH MORE: Canada’s inflation rate slowed to 3.1% in October