'There's nobody here’: Cross-border Black Friday shoppers shocked to see low Canadian turnout in Mich.

If you drove the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel or Ambassador Bridge for this year's Black Friday, you have may have forgotten it’s the first holiday shopping occasion without any COVID-19 pandemic border restrictions in three years for fully-vaccinated Canadians.

That's because for most of Friday morning and afternoon, Canadians were able to cross into the U.S. via the Ambassador Bridge or Windsor-Detroit Tunnel with almost no delays.

"I was expecting a bigger turnout. I mean, it’s Black Friday. It’s an American tradition and Canadians always love to participate in American traditions," said Windsor, Ont. resident Ronnie Desjardins who was shopping at the Target store in Dearborn, Mich.

Shoppers inside told CTV News Windsor the store looked no different than any other Friday, despite clear signage promoting deal after deal.

"I think people got tired of the fighting and the drama of the holiday shopping," said Desjardins. "Especially after basically three years of living in a pandemic and being used to buying everything online, I think people have shifted their consumer habits.

According to data released by Google, 86 per cent of shoppers discover brands and products while browsing online. Meanwhile, 89 per cent searched for items online before visiting a physical store.

"There’s nobody here. It’s just us," said Sheena McKay, just minutes after exiting a store in Michigan with two of her friends.

McKay added she normally crosses the border for Black Friday shopping, except for 2020 and 2021 when border crossing was limited due to the pandemic.

While shopping for Black Friday 2022, she said there were far fewer Canadian licence plates in the lots than she is normally used to seeing.

"The deals aren’t that great. They’re actually all online. I could’ve done this all online," said McKay.

According to Bruce Winter, a retail analyst, in-person store lineups have "diluted" as shoppers shift to buying products online.

“What we’re seeing is they might spend their money a little bit differently this year,” he said. “They are going to be looking for more meaningful and more practical gifts. They might choose to buy for fewer people then they did in the past.”

Other Windsorites such as Dharmesh Patel said the increased toll at the bridge and tunnel make the cross-border not worth it.

"While I’m sure there are still deals to be had at certain outlets on items you just can’t find here, it's still not worth the time," said Patel.

A CBSA border services agent told CTV News Windsor traffic to and from the Windsor-Detroit land borders was much less than it normally has been during pre-pandemic Black Fridays.