Consumers return to stores to shop

Despite higher prices, inflation and safety concerns, more Christmas shoppers are browsing on-line but making in-store purchases.

The National Retail Federation reported an estimated 166.3 million people visited stores from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year — an 8 million increase from last year.

The good news extends to on-line sales. E-commerce retail revenues this year are projected to grow to $554 billion compared to $360 billion in 2019—the first year of the pandemic.

Black Friday continues to be the most popular in-store day with 114.9 million shopping followed by 63.9 mill...