Black Friday Sales Results 2021

As Black Friday 2021 draws to a close, it seems that clothing sales were a major success this year. The shopping holiday, traditionally known as the start of the holiday shopping season, saw shoppers flock to stores and websites to take advantage of the steep discounts.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that clothing and accessories sales increased by over 20% this year, making it the best Black Friday sales figures on record. The total sales figure is expected to reach an estimated $9.4 billion – a new record.

Clothing was the top-selling category on Black Friday. Some of the most popular items included winter coats and jackets, as well as holiday sweaters and pajamas.

Retailers across the country reported strong sales. Macy’s, for example, reported a more than 40% jump in sales compared to 2020. J.C. Penney and Kohl’s also reported double-digit sales gains.

The surge in clothing sales was driven by a combination of factors. The pandemic has led to an increase in online shopping, and many retailers offered discounts and promotions for Black Friday. The NRF estimates that online retail sales increased by over 30% this year.

At the same time, shoppers have been stocking up for the cold weather months ahead. With the pandemic forcing people to stay at home, many are investing in comfortable clothing for their home comforts.

Overall, Black Friday 2021 was a huge success for clothing retailers. With more people shopping online, retailers have had to adjust their strategies to adapt to the new normal. But the success of this year’s event suggests that clothing retailers are on the right track.

The holiday season of 2021 is expected to be a major shopping season for fashion brands, with luxury and streetwear being some of the most popular fashion trends. Luxury brands such as Gucci, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton are expected to be popular choices among shoppers, while streetwear brands such as Supreme, Off-White, and Stüssy are also expected to be sought after. Other popular fashion brands during the holiday season include Nike, Adidas, and Balenciaga, as well as fast-fashion favorites like Zara and H&M. With so much variety to choose from, shoppers should be able to find the perfect fashion pieces to update their wardrobe for the holidays.

Comfort, Cold Weather and the Online Habit

The surge had three drivers in the coverage. The pandemic had increased online shopping, and the NRF estimates online retail sales increased by over 30 percent for the event, with retailers adjusting strategies to the new normal of discounts and promotions delivered digitally. Shoppers were stocking up for the cold weather months ahead. And after long periods at home, shoppers were investing in comfortable clothing for their home comforts — the same comfort-first demand that had lifted loungewear through the pandemic seasons, now expressed in the holiday categories of sweaters and pajamas alongside outerwear. The result was the strongest apparel reading in this results series: where earlier years buried clothing inside all-retail totals, 2021 put the category itself at the top of the sales table.

The holiday season outlook recorded here expected luxury and streetwear to be among the most popular fashion directions, naming Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton on the luxury side and Supreme, Off-White and Stüssy in streetwear, with Nike, Adidas and Balenciaga plus fast-fashion favorites Zara and H&M also expected to be sought after. Read with the 2020 and 2022 results, 2021 is the rebound year in which apparel demand — deferred wardrobe spending, cold-weather stocking and comfort buying — converted the pandemic's online infrastructure into a category record. As with every page in this series, the figures are estimates, and the $9.4 billion total was an expectation recorded as the day drew to a close rather than a final audited count.

How to Read This Report

The over-20-percent clothing increase and the over-30-percent online increase are NRF estimates for the Black Friday event, stated against the pandemic-depressed 2020 base, which flatters growth rates. Chain results — Macy's up more than 40 percent, J.C. Penney and Kohl's up double digits — are company reports for those retailers, not market totals, and they partly reflect recovery from closed and restricted trading in 2020 rather than pure expansion.