Chain Reaction: More people shopping in person amid supply chain issues

MISHAWAKA, Ind. --- Concern over backups at ports all over the world has actually caused online sales to drop for the first time ever over the big holiday shopping weekend, according to Adobe.

This Black Friday shoppers were back out in person chasing a good deal and some pre-pandemic normalcy.

Nearly 180 million shoppers spent an average of $301 each over Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, according to  the National Retail Federation.

Retailers saw about 105 million shoppers visiting stores over the weekend, compared to just 92 million last year. The overall number of online shoppers decreased to a total of roughly 128 million from 145 million last year.

The National Retail Federation says U.S. shoppers are expected to spend up to $859 billion between this month and next.

The convenience of online shopping has changed Black Friday in years pasts.

But the supply chain mess means online shoppers found more ‘out of stock’ messages than they usually would and longer wait times for shipping items sourced in other countries.