Black Friday Retail Sales Up 0.5% From '08

(AP)  Shoppers spent only slightly more in stores this Black Friday - the traditional post-Thanksgiving Day shopping spree - than they did last year, according to data released Saturday by a national research firm.

Preliminary sales data from ShopperTrak RCT Corp. show shoppers spent $10.66 billion when they hit the malls on the day after Thanksgiving - only 0.5 percent more than last year.

Black Friday Retail Sales (Press Release)

At the same time, other research showed fresh signs of much stronger online sales during the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, which may mean more consumers shopped from home.

Still, more than a year after the economy's collapse began rattling shoppers, industry observers said Friday's shopping sprees offered a strong start to the holiday season as large crowds of shoppers snatched up early morning deals.

"I know what they want, but I've been looking for a deal to make sure I get a good price," Jude Leeper, 49, of Hanover, Pa., said as she shopped for gifts for family members Friday at a Maryland mall. "I'm going to buy that gift that I know is going to get used, not stuffed in a closet."

The traditional shopping spree - dubbed Black Friday because it often was the day when a surge of shoppers helped stores break into profitability for the full year - has marked the kickoff of holiday shopping for many consumers. But its importance has faded in recent years as merchants started hawking the deep sales and expanded hours usually reserved for that day well in advance.

Still, the day is often used as an important barometer of people's willingness to spend during the holidays - vital weeks for merchants nationwide.

This year, many of the in-store deals were also available online, causing some Web sites to overload as pajama-clad shoppers tried to get deals without waiting in long lines in the cold.

Web marketing analyst Coremetrics said its data showed the average amount online shoppers spent on Black Friday rose 35 percent as shoppers spent roughly $170.19 per order - up from $126.04 last year.

The San Mateo, Calif. company also said Web shoppers also bought more items with each purchase.

Black Friday Online Sales (Press Release)

Shop-by-television sales were also strong at the TV shopping network QVC, which said its Black Friday sales totaled $32 million - up almost 60 percent from last year, thanks to its first-ever push to promote its post-Thanksgiving deals.

Executives at J.C. Penney Co. said Saturday that their day after Thanksgiving business in stores was "strong" nationwide as shoppers snatched up doorbusters.

However, officials at the department store chain, which did not provide specific data about this year's business compared with last year, also cautioned that one weekend's performance wasn't enough to predict how the rest of the holiday season would fare.

Saturday's in-store figures were compiled by ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 stores.
By AP Retail Writer Ashley M. Heher

[myopinionpal]

America is a country full of materialistic people. I mean people willing to go to a store and wait in the freezing cold seventeen hours before the store opens for what? I'll tell you for something that they will have to sell in a month or so to buy food or make a house payment.

[W_A_H]

Yeah uh huh. Let's see the final figures CBS before you pump in more helium.

Let's just be realistic shall we. My family is fortunate in being employed thus far by good jobs. Even though we have good jobs our extended family has agreed to spend what money we all have for the children. Not the $2,000 we spent last year but 10% of that. Why? Because we have no clue what?s around the next corner with this administration. To say now that sales are robust at the stores is one thing and will be quantified but your vernacular of online Christmas sales as soaring? I love the way MSM uses these esoteric comparisons that no one can quantify. Good going again CBS. Say, how are those add revenues going for ya? Can you say down by 38%? Ya know articles like this make those who can?t afford a big Christmas or a Christmas at all (80% of the population) this year really agitates folks so keep it up because after mortgage and food? What?s left CBS?

[culturechang]

Yes the unemployed should buy more than last year. Nothing about our economy or stock market makes any sense.

[Skruffy1]

Undoubtedly 1/2 of one percent is well within the margin of error of a statistic such as this. But hey, it gives the talking heads on the teevee something to talk about so they don't have to actually investigate or report NEWS. Hey, look, the Dow!! it's up 5 points... now it's down... up again... unemployment is up a little, now it's down a little... We'll know when the economy improves, and it won't be because one stupid little number increases by an immeasurable increment.

[nextgenman09]

one half of ONE percent is strong? HAHAHAHA! Good Lord! "Journalists" are now Marketing Majors for economists!!

[vietnamwar]

yessssss support China and buy.....

[apuan777]

I wonder how much of those sales were put on credit?

[donbl1]

The comparison needs to be against 2007 as 2008 was in the toilet if i remember right.

If this Black Friday was only .5% greater than last year then the retail business is still struggling.

[longtree-2009]

spend, spend, spend! go deeper into debt or pay cash, your choice. bet most products have a label that reads, "made in china". if you shop online, select those that ship free and save a few bucks. but whatever you do, spend, spend, spend!