As product availability remains strained this holiday season, consumers are taking a flexible approach to shopping. According to a recent feature from eMarketer, between August and October, the majority of U.S. shoppers either switched brands or products (39 percent) or switched retailers (32 percent) when their item of choice was unavailable. Meanwhile, 13 percent waited for the item to come back in stock, and 16 percent simply opted to do without.

In other holiday shopping news, eMarketer reports Black Friday traffic at brick-and mortar retailers dropped 28.3 percent vs. 2019, according to early data from Sensormatic Solutions. Traffic was up 47.5 percent from last year, when COVID-19 concerns reigned supreme and many stores shortened their hours of operation.

In 2020, COVID-19 was surging when Black Friday hit. After this past weekend’s figures, there appears to be cautious optimism around resurging brick and mortar retail. Last year, 41 percent planned to shop in-store; this year, that figure was up to 56 percent.

Click here to read the full story from eMarketer.