More Americans hunted for bargains over the weekend than ever before as retailers lured them online and into stores with big discounts and an earlier-than-usual start to the holiday shopping season.
A record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the four-day holiday weekend starting on Thanksgiving Day, up from 212 million last year, according to early estimates by The National Retail Federation released Sunday. Americans spent more, too: The average holiday shopper spent $398.62 over the weekend, up from $365.34 a year ago.
Art and Anna Destrada from Port Chester, N. Y., were among the holiday shoppers. They started shopping on Thanksgiving evening at a Walmart store, went to various malls in New Jersey on Friday, and got some deals at Macy’s on Saturday. They spent $2,000 on gifts for themselves and others, including a Wii videogame console, clothing and jewelry.
“We’ve saved for Christmas and put away money all year,” Anna Destrada, 49, said. “We stayed within our means so we can make a few splurges.”
Online shopping on Black Friday was especially strong. Research firm comScore reported Sunday that online spending jumped 26 percent on Black Friday to $816 million, compared with $648 million on the same day a year ago. Meanwhile, online retailers were gearing up for today’s “Cyber Monday.”
The results for the first holiday shopping weekend show that retailers’ efforts to lure shoppers during the weak economy are working. Some like Walmart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney have been making a stronger push online to better compete with the likes of rival Amazon.com. And major chains including Macy’s, Target and Best Buy extended the traditional start to the shopping season by opening their doors at midnight on Thanksgiving evening instead of the pre-dawn Friday hours of years past.
But the question remains whether retailers will be able to hold shoppers’ attention throughout the remainder of the season, which can account for 25 percent to 40 percent of a merchant’s annual revenue. After all, Americans still are very driven by deep discounting, and they’re more conscious of their spending budgets.
Overall, holiday spending is expected to grow by a modest 2.8 percent to about $466 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. A fuller picture on spending will come Thursday when major retailers report their November sales figures. But for now, experts agree that retailers will likely have to continue to discount to get shoppers to spend.
“The big question is: How do you close the season?” said Hana Ben-Shabat, a partner at A.T. Kearney’s retail practice. “This is a very promotional-driven shopper.”
Indeed, the earlier hours – which meant earlier door-buster deals – on Black Friday seemed to be what drew many shoppers in over the weekend, particularly the younger crowd.
According to the NRF, 24 percent of Black Friday shoppers were at stores at midnight. That’s up from up from 9.5 percent the year before when only a few stores were open during that time. Of those shopping at midnight on Black Friday, 37 percent were in the 18-to-34 age group.
“Black Friday has evolved from an early morning shopping activity to a late night entertainment,” says Ellen Davis, spokeswoman at The NRF. “A lot of people stayed up until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. to go shopping, and then went to bed.”
The remainder of the day went well, too.
Mall of America, the largest mall in North America, broke its Black Friday record with about 210,000 shoppers. And Taubman Centers, which manages or leases 26 shopping centers in 13 states, says sales were up anywhere from mid- to low double digits Friday, compared with a year ago.
Overall, Black Friday sales were $11.4 billion, up 7 percent, or nearly $1 billion from the same day last year, according to a report by ShopperTrak, which gathers data from 25,000 outlets across the country. It was the largest amount ever spent on that day and the biggest year-over-year increase since 2007. Additionally, customer counts climbed 5.1 percent that day compared with a year ago.
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