NRF reports Black Friday results
New Mexico Business Weekly
More than 172 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year. Spending in the West was below other parts of the country, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch. Discounters reported the most traffic.
Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this past weekend, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41.0 billion. In the West, shoppers spent an average of $314.06 compared to $397 in the Northeast and $394 in the South. The survey did not give specific results for the Southwestern states.
“Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season’s hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again.”
The NRF said Friday was clearly the busiest day of the weekend with 73.6 million people hitting stores and Web sites for doorbuster sales. Traffic fell by 16 million people on Saturday, but retailers were also buoyed by two-day sales as 56.9 million people shopped on Saturday, up from 48.3 million last year, while another 26.2 million people planned to shop on Sunday. Thanksgiving Day also continues to increase in importance as the number of people who shopped on Thursday was up 48 percent over last year (16.2 million vs. 10.9 million people).
According to the findings, Americans have completed slightly more shopping than they had one year ago (39.3 percent vs. 36.4 percent), indicating that traffic and sales over the next several weeks will soften.
“Though retailers should be encouraged by strong traffic and sales over the weekend, consumers are still being cautious,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. “Weekend shoppers indicated that they are still sticking to a budget and thinking carefully before making any holiday purchases.”
Though retailers in all categories were featuring big bargains, a majority of shoppers visited discount stores for holiday deals. According to the survey, more than half (54.7 percent) of the holiday weekend’s shoppers visited discount stores. Nearly half (43.0 percent) shopped at a traditional department store, up 11.1 percent from 38.7 percent last year. About one-third of shoppers visited specialty stores like clothing or electronics stores (36.0 percent) and shopped online (34.0 percent).
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