Inflation is weighing on Black Friday shoppers more than last night’s turkey.

The big day for bargain hunters was off to a slow start Friday with sleepy retail strips in the Big Apple, few lines at major chain stores nationwide — and experts warning that shops may be forced to skip offering hot deals this year.

“Only about 20 people have come through self-checkout, so far,” Jimena Silva, a Target employee in Raleigh, North Carolina, said Friday morning.

Sky-high prices for food, rent, gasoline and other household costs have taken a toll on shoppers, with many reluctant to spend unless there’s a big sale. 

Others said they’re being more selective about their holiday gift spending — in many cases, trading down to cheaper items or holding out for the best deals.

But many retailers are hesitant to offer major discounts this year due to inflation-fueled economic woes, an expert told The Post. 

“Between higher inventory prices and an uncertain consumer environment, retailers will probably be cautious in setting holiday discounts,” Pete Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, told The Post.

The trend comes as shoppers’ wallets have already shrunk in recent months, he said.

“Since wages have not risen as quickly as the prices of goods and services have this year, Americans will generally have less money to spend in the 2022 holiday season versus in 2021,” he said

 “And because interest rates have increased substantially this year, we may see less use of credit cards.”

 At the Best Buy in Chesterfield, Missouri, for example, there were no customers lined up behind the barricades in anticipation of doorbuster deals on Thursday evening.

“Normally, it’s wrapped all the way around the building, today no one,” Jeremy Pritchett told news station Fox2Now. “I’m surprised.”

In the Soho section of Manhattan, the normally bustling Broadway was sleepy with few lines, and shoppers admitting they’re hesitant to splurge this season.

Jonathan Joseph, a 20-year-old student from Queens, bought three pairs of $120 sneakers as Christmas presents for relatives at Nike Soho — but stopped short of getting himself a little something, like in past years.

“Everything is more of a price, more costly. I just feel like it’s not even worth going out [to shop], he said. “It’s just disappointing. I think back on how much cheaper things used to be.”

Ariana Fermin, 18, a student from Staten Island, pointed out the lack of crowds in the retail-heavy hub. 

“It’s really calm for a Black Friday,” she said of the Broadway area.

Cash-strapped shoppers are also dipping more into their savings, turning increasingly to “buy now, pay later” services like Afterpay that allow users to pay for items in installments, as well as running up their credit cards.

Such financial hardships could help drive shoppers to look for discounts as the holiday shopping season kicks off.

Isela Dalencia, who was shopping for household essentials like detergent at a Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey, earlier this week, said she’s delaying buying holiday gifts until Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving — when online sales rev up. 

Then, she will wait again until the week before Christmas to get the best deals, unlike last year when she started buying before Black Friday.

“I am shopping less,” Dalencia said, noting she will spend about $700 for holiday gifts this year, one-third less than last year.

An estimated 166.3 million people — almost 8 million more than last year — plan to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Some analysts expect holiday sales growth will slow compared to last year, when retailers were plagued by supply chain problems. 

Katie Leach, a social worker in Manhattan, was also browsing the aisles at Walmart but said she will start holiday shopping during the first week of December as usual. 

This time, however, she’ll be relying more on markdowns, her credit card and “buy now, pay later” services to get her through the shopping season because of surging prices on food and other necessities.

“The money is not going as far as last year,” Leach said.

Plenty of shoppers like Lolita Cordero from Brooklyn, New York, are sitting out Black Friday.

“I’m shopping early, trying to get things on sale, discount, or clearance – and I use coupons,” Cordero said. “I never did Black Friday. I hear it’s a mess, and people get hurt.”

This year’s trends are a contrast to a year ago when consumers were buying early out of fear of not getting what they needed because of supply chain woes. Stores didn’t have to slash prices much because they were struggling to bring in items.

But some pandemic habits are sticking around. Many retailers that closed stores on Thanksgiving Day and instead pushed discounts on their websites to thin out crowds at their brick-and-mortar locations did the same this year as well, despite a return to normalcy.

Major retailers including Walmart and Target again closed their stores on Thanksgiving. And many moved away from doorbusters, the deeply marked down items offered for a limited time that drew often unruly crowds, leading to scenes of mayhem on Black Friday. 

Instead, the marked-down items are available throughout the month, on Black Friday or the holiday weekend.

Against today’s economic backdrop, the National Retail Federation — the largest retail trade group — expects holiday sales growth will slow to a range of 6% to 8%, from the blistering 13.5% growth of a year ago. 

However, these figures, which include online spending, aren’t adjusted for inflation so real spending could even be down from a year ago.

Adobe Analytics expects online sales to be up 2.5% from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, a slowdown from last year’s 8.6% pace when shoppers were uncertain about returning to physical stores.

Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend, which includes Cyber Monday, a key barometer of shoppers’ willingness to spend, particularly this year. The two-month period between Thanksgiving and Christmas represents about 20% of the retail industry’s annual sales.

With Post wires