Things To Do In SW Florida

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite wider economic uncertainty hovering above this year’s holiday season, shoppers turned out in big numbers for Black Friday — spending billions of dollars both in stores and online.

Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce, said U.S. consumers spent a record $11.8 billion online Friday, marking a 9.1% jump from last year. Traffic particularly piled up between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time nationwide, when $12.5 million passed through online shopping carts every minute.

Consumers also spent a record $6.4 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, per Adobe. Top categories that saw an uptick in sales across both days included video game consoles, electronics and home appliances. Shopping services powered by artificial intelligence and social media advertising have also particularly influenced what consumers choose to buy, the firm said.

Meanwhile, software company Salesforce — which tracks digital spending from a range of retailers, including grocers — estimated that Black Friday online sales totaled $18 billion in the U.S. and $79 billion globally. And e-commerce platform Shopify said its merchants raked in a record $6.2 billion in sales worldwide on Black Friday. At its peak, sales reached $5.1 million per minute — with top categories including cosmetics and clothing, according to the Canadian company. read more

As Americans feel their wallets tighten this Black Friday, Orlando’s small businesses are counting on the loyalty of customers in their community to ensure steady business.

Sarah Johnson-Markve is the owner of the Good Crowd gift shop along Edgewater Drive in College Park. She said while financial conditions have made the past few years tough for retail, but  so far this year’s holiday shopping season feels the same in sales as last year’s.

Photos capture enduring enthusiasm for Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year

She credits that to the community she has built around the shop since she opened it in 2019.

“They want to shop small. Sure, they might need to go get some electronics at a big box store,” she said. “But what they are really looking for is how to support small businesses on Black Friday as well.”

Robyn Bertram, who was at the Good Crowd Friday afternoon to buy gifts for her friends, agreed with the sentiment, although she said there are many who are not in the financial position to do the same. read more

By Jaewon Kang, Bloomberg News

This Black Friday, one class of retailers has figured out the trick of luring shoppers suffering through frigid temperatures and high inflation: teen brands.

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To tempt picky Americans, they are offering sales on products like perfume, body wash and sweatshirts. It’s seemingly paying off: The most crowded stores Friday in cities across the U.S. belonged to brands including Edikted, Kendra Scott, and Bath & Body Works.

Other mall retailers saw thin crowds and disappointed shoppers, who were expecting bigger discounts at higher-end brands like Ralph Lauren and Coach. read more

A significant new court filing claims Facebook and Instagram owner Meta had a “17x” policy allowing sex traffickers to post content related to sexual solicitation or prostitution 16 times before their accounts were suspended on the 17th “strike.” The allegation is one of many in the filing claiming Meta chose profit and user engagement over the safety and well-being of children.

The description of the purported sexual content policy at Instagram is contained in a new court filing by plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit against Meta, Google’s YouTube, Snapchat owner Snap and TikTok brought by children and parents, school districts and states — including California. They accuse the companies of intentionally addicting children to products they knew were harming them.

The filing makes the same general allegations against the four companies — that they targeted children and schools, and misrepresented their social media products — along with company-specific claims.

“Despite earning billions of dollars in annual revenue — and its leader being one of the richest people in the world — Meta simply refused to invest resources in keeping kids safe,” claimed the Friday filing in Oakland’s U.S. District Court. The lawsuit also targets products it deems harmful from Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok. The plaintiffs seek unspecified damages, and a court order requiring the companies stop alleged “harmful conduct” and warn minor users and parents that their products are addictive and dangerous. read more

By AUDREY McAVOY

An aircraft heavily used by commercial airlines around the world needs a software fix to address an issue that contributed to a sudden drop in altitude of a JetBlue plane last month, the manufacturer and European aviation safety regulators said Friday.

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The step may result in some flight delays as U.S. travelers return home from the Thanksgiving holidays.

Airbus said an analysis of the JetBlue incident revealed intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft. read more