Smartphone shoppers help Black Friday online sales reach a record high

• Richa Naidu, Reuters

• Nov. 25, 2017, 4:25 PM
• 996
 

Black Friday shopping at Target. Adam Hunger/AP Images for Target

• Online sales on Black Friday and Thanksgiving this year hit an estimated $7.9 billion, a record high.
• Some 40% of Black Friday online sales were made through mobile devices, up from 29% last year, according to another estimate.
• Despite the surging web and mobile sales, traffic to brick-and-mortar stores was estimated to be down less than 1%.

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CHICAGO — Black Friday and Thanksgiving online sales in the United States surged to record highs as shoppers bagged deep discounts and bought more on their mobile devices, heralding a promising start to the key holiday season, according to retail analytics firms.

US retailers raked in a record $7.9 billion in online sales on Black Friday and Thanksgiving, up 17.9% from a year ago, according to Adobe Analytics, which measures transactions at the largest 100 US web retailers, on Saturday.

Adobe said Cyber Monday is expected to drive $6.6 billion in internet sales, which would make it the largest US online shopping day in history.

In the run-up to the holiday weekend, traditional retailers invested heavily in improving their websites and bulking up delivery options, preempting a decline in visits to brick-and-mortar stores. Several chains tightened store inventories as well, to ward off any post-holiday liquidation that would weigh on profits.

TVs, laptops, toys and gaming consoles - particularly the PlayStation 4 - were among the most heavily discounted and the biggest sellers, according to retail analysts and consultants.

Commerce marketing firm Criteo said 40% of Black Friday online purchases were made on mobile phones, up from 29% last year.

No brick-and-mortar sales data for Thanksgiving or Black Friday was immediately available, but Reuters reporters and industry analysts noted anecdotal signs of muted activity - fewer cars in mall parking lots, shoppers leaving stores without purchases in hand.

Stores offered heavy discounts, creative gimmicks and free gifts to draw bargain hunters out of their homes, but some shoppers said they were just browsing the merchandise, reserving their cash for internet purchases. There was little evidence of the delirious shopper frenzy customary of Black Fridays from past years.

However, retail research firm ShopperTrak said store traffic fell less than 1% on Black Friday, bucking industry predictions of a sharper decline.

"There has been a significant amount of debate surrounding the shifting importance of brick-and-mortar retail," Brian Field, ShopperTrak's senior director of advisory services, said.

"The fact that shopper visits remained intact on Black Friday illustrates that physical retail is still highly relevant and when done right, it is profitable."

The National Retail Federation (NRF), which had predicted strong holiday sales helped by rising consumer confidence, said on Friday that fair weather across much of the nation had also helped draw shoppers into stores.

The NRF, whose overall industry sales data is closely watched each year, is scheduled to release Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales numbers on Tuesday.

US consumer confidence has been strengthening over this past year, due to a labor market that is churning out jobs, rising home prices and stock markets that are hovering at record highs.

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More: Reuters Black Friday Holiday Shopping Mobile Commerce 

BLACK FRIDAY NIGHTMARE: Furious customers are complaining that Macy's won't let them pay as system glitches

• Kate Taylor
 

• Nov. 24, 2017, 6:13 PM
• 39,469
 

Eric Thayer/Reuters

M Macy's

 21.39 0.19 (+0.90 %)

DisclaimerGet real-time M charts here »

• Macy's customers are saying the retailer's credit card system has crashed in locations across the US on Black Friday.
• Problems seem to have started around noon, and customers continued to report issues throughout Friday afternoon. 
• Macy's said in a statement that it was "taking longer than usual to process some credit and gift cards in our stores."

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Customers are complaining about Macy's credit card systems failing across the country on Black Friday.

"Macys credit card system down nationwide," Kenn White tweeted at 1:29 p.m. ET on Friday. "They are not informing shoppers standing in long lines. Getting ugly out there."

Many other people reported similar problems on social media.

Twitter

The issues appear to have begun around noon ET. Three hours later, many people were reporting that Macy's locations were still unable to process gift cards and credit cards and that customers could pay only in cash.

Twitter AbbeyCrews

"All the credit card machines at Macy's broke down fifteen minutes before the door busters expired, and I think I've now witnessed hell," one Macy's shopper tweeted.

Twitter RudyKCTV5

"Came to the Macy's on State for some Black Friday shopping and all of the registers are down," says one of the several angry comments on Macy's Facebook page. "No credit or debit, only cash! Wasted time picking things out only to leave empty handed with all my merchandise at the register."

"It is taking longer than usual to process some credit and gift cards in our stores, but we have added additional associates to the floor and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," Macy's said in a statement.

Customers continued to report payment issues throughout Friday afternoon. At around 6 p.m. ET, the retailer said it had "fully resolved today's system issues." 

"The delays we experienced this afternoon were due to a capacity-related issue that caused some transactions to take longer to process," Macy's said in a statment. "We do not anticipate any additional delays." 

Some Bloomingdale's shoppers appear to be having similar issues. Bloomingdale's did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Twitter shoedesign1

Some people are also saying they're having issues with Macy's website and app. There have been multiple reports of the site being down, according to CurrentlyDown.com, which tracks website outages.

Twitter

A Macy's representative told Business Insider that both Macy's and Bloomingdale's websites were up and running.

Earlier in the day, Macy's had reported a successful Black Friday so far.

CEO Jeff Gennette told CNBC that the company had seen "very robust online demand." According to Gennette, the company improved over last year's Black Friday but had a lot of work to do to post a good holiday quarter.

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More: Retail Macy's Black Friday 2017

The electricity used to mine bitcoin this year is bigger than the annual usage of 159 countries

• Oscar Williams-Grut
 

• Nov. 26, 2017, 3:07 AM
• 38,042
 

Bitcoin mining computers are pictured in Bitmain's mining farm near Keflavik, Iceland, June 4, 2016. Picture taken June 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jemima Kelly

• New bitcoin is created by computers solving complex cryptographic problems, a process known as "mining."
• PowerCompare.co.uk says the amount of electricity used by computers mining bitcoin so far this year eclipses the annual usage of countries like Ireland and most African countries.
• Bitcoin's electricity usage is coming under increasing scrutiny.

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LONDON — The amount of energy used by computers "mining" bitcoin so far this year is greater than the annual usage of almost 160 countries, according to new research.

Research by energy tariff comparison service PowerCompare.co.uk shows that the amount of energy expended mining bitcoin globally has already exceeded the amount used on average by Ireland and most African nations.

PowerCompare.co.uk used stats from Bitcoin and cryptocurrency data provider Digiconomist, which estimates that 29.05 TWh of electricity was used to mine bitcoin, compared to an estimated 25 TWh of electricity per year used by Ireland.

You can see a full list of the 159 countries whose energy usage is eclipsed by bitcoin here or see it visualised below (the orange countries are those that use less electricity than bitcoin mining):PowerCompare.co.uk

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2009. It is designed to not be controlled by any one party and is underpinned by a system called blockchain, which records transactions.

To ensure transactions are not falsified or records of ownership changed, participants of the bitcoin network must sign off on transactions in "blocks" (hence, blockchain).

To incentivize people to do this work, which involves computers completing complex cryptographic problems, people who verify blocks are rewarded with freshly created bitcoin. Hence, this process is known as bitcoin "mining."

However, the creators of bitcoin designed the system so there would only ever be a limited supply of bitcoins to be mined (a maximum of 21 million). To ensure the longevity of the system, the cryptographic problems involved in the mining get progressively harder, meaning it takes longer to earn them.

Miners are turning to more powerful computers to complete these tasks and earn bitcoin. As a result, mining (and on the flipside, bitcoin transactions) are sucking up greater and greater amounts of electricity. Bitcoin transactions now use so much energy that the electricity used for a single trade could power a home for almost a whole month, according to Dutch bank ING.

The bulk of Bitcoin "mining" is done in China, where energy costs are comparatively cheaper than in places like the UK or US.

"The top six biggest mining pools from Antpool to BTCC are all largely based in China," Mati Greenspan, an analyst with trading platform eToro, said in an email earlier this month. "Some rough estimates put China's hashpower at more than 80% of the total network."

However, there is growing concern about what the environmental impact of all this electric usage could be. Most of the electricity generated in China comes from CO2 emitting fossil fuels. Greenspan said: "We need to be mindful of how that energy is created."

You can see live data on the mining pools that are currently active at Blockchain.info.

Learn more:

• Credit Card Industry and Market
• Mobile Payment Technologies
• Mobile Payments Industry
• Mobile Payment Market, Trends and Adoption
• Credit Card Processing Industry
• List of Credit Card Processing Companies
• List of Credit Card Processing Networks
• List of Payment Gateway Providers
• M-Commerce: Mobile Shopping Trends
• E-Commerce Payment Technologies and Trends

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The Republican tax plan could slam into a wall tomorrow

• Bob Bryan
 

• 17h
• 12,066
 

Sen. Ron Johnson Alex Wong/Getty Images

• The Senate Budget Committee is scheduled to take up the GOP tax bill on Tuesday.
• GOP Sen. Ron Johnson said that without changes he will not vote for the bill in committee.
• Since Republicans only have a one-vote majority in the Committee, Johnson's defection would prevent the bill from making it to the Senate floor.

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Senate Republican leaders have little time in which to come up with a change to their tax bill, or the measure could stumble on a key procedural hurdle.

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, one of two public "no" votes on the Senate tax bill, named the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), told reporters Monday that unless there are changes made to the bill he plans to vote against the plan in the Senate Budget Committee.

Given that Republicans hold only a one-seat advantage in the Committee, Johnson's vote would be enough to prevent the bill from making it to the full Senate floor.

"We are working diligently to fix the problems," Johnson told Wisconsin reporters.  "If we develop a fix prior to committee, I will vote yes. If not, I will vote no."

Johnson raised issues with the treatment of pass-through businesses like limited liability companies and S-corporations compared to C-corporations. According to Johnson, pass-throughs do not get the same level of benefit from the plan as C-corporations.

Johnson and fellow GOP defector Steve Daines said this means the TCJA favors large multinational businesses over small businesses.

GOP leaders are working to make adjustments to the pass-through provisions there is little time left since the  Senate Budget Committee is set to take up the TCJA Tuesday afternoon.

Additionally, another Republican member of the Budget Committee — Sen. Bob Corker — has brought up issues with the tax bill and so far has not committed to a vote either way in the Committee.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch, the author of the Senate TCJA, told reporters on Monday that he was "very concerned" about the outcome of the Budget Committee vote, but that it will ultimately be fine.

Talking to Trump

Johnson also told reporters that he has been in contact with President Donald Trump about a solution for his concerns.

"The president said, 'Ron, you’re absolutely right, we absolutely appreciate you raising this issue and we’re going to fix this," Johnson said.

Trump tweeted on Monday that the tax bill is undergoing changes, including to the TCJA's treatment of pass-through businesses.

"The Tax Cut Bill is coming along very well, great support," Trump said. "With just a few changes, some mathematical, the middle class and job producers can get even more in actual dollars and savings and the pass through provision becomes simpler and really works well!"

A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately return a request for comment.

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More: Ron Johnson Orrin Hatch Senate GOP Tax Bill Senate Republican Tax Plan