Sales at retail stores on Black Friday fell to $10.4 billion this year, according to ShopperTrack, which is down from $11.6 billion in 2014. And sales on Thanksgiving dropped by the same percentage, to $1.8 billion.
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Preliminary data from ShopperTrak showed sales at stores totaled about US$12.1 billion on Thursday and Friday.
ShopperTrak will release more details about this weekend’s sales on Tuesday.
This number is an all-time high record, and an increase of 25 percent from a year ago.
The decline, reported by research firm ShopperTrak, reflects the rising prevalence of online shopping. The weekend before Christmas is another big period for the industry.
That’s up from the group’s mid-November survey, which projected 136 million people planned to shop over the long weekend.
But a change in methodology means that figure isn’t comparable to those from prior years.
Both women said Black Friday hype seems to have diminished.
Many people have been doing some shopping, but for those who aren’t quite finished, Cyber Monday will feature additional discounts. The average spending per person over the weekend totaled almost $300, and most shoppers were under the age of 35.
“US consumers have turned into digital shopping ninjas this holiday season as retailers continue to adjust to a huge influx of smartphone shoppers”. IBM reported the majority, 57%, of online traffic came from mobile devices for the first time ever this year.
Alvaro Abrego takes a look at sweat trousers at the Dick’s Sporting Goods store at The Shops at Park Lane in Dallas. Retailers have responded by starting sales earlier, which reinforces consumers’ inclination to stretch out their shopping.
Sales at retailers’ brick-and-mortar locations may suffer during the weekend after Thanksgiving, with analysts saying more shoppers are skipping malls and buying online. More specifically, $1.73 billion was spent on Thanksgiving and $2.74 billion was spent online on Black Friday, further showing how the one-day shopping event has become a two-day affair.
Black Friday deals can still pull in shoppers-both online and in stores.
This also allowed shoppers to do in-depth research, so that even if they ultimately bought some items in store, shoppers would make a beeline for their sought-after item, without staying to browse other shelves or departments, he said. There may also be “social backlash against store openings on the holiday”. It stuck by its forecast of a 2.4 percent increase for November and December sales. ADOBE SYSTEMS Adobe Systems Inc said Saturday online sales for Thanksgiving and Black Friday rose 18 percent to $4.4 billion.
A host of new apps and improved mobile sites from major retailers drove traffic to tablets and smartphones.
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Still, most analysts expect this year’s holiday sales to show stronger growth than last year’s. “Consumers are seeing the shopping season as a zone”.
