The coronavirus pandemic has reshaped the holiday shopping season with fewer people hitting stores on Black Friday and many retail chains holding the line on discounts because they are sitting on lean inventories.
Crowds were smaller this year than last after chains like Walmart Inc. and Best Buy Co. Inc. put their Black Friday promotions online and, alongside Amazon.com Inc., encouraged people to buy earlier in the season. Even Black Friday veterans out shopping said they had made much more of their purchases online this…