Last year, retailers experienced shoppers on Black Friday crowding some stores, so they hired more security staff this year to be ready for a repeat.
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It was a retailing dream come true this past holiday weekend with more than 151 million consumers shopping at brick-and-mortar stores and online storefronts, a figure much higher than expected earlier in November.
Online sales continued a double-digit climb on Cyber Monday, accounting for $3.07 billion in purchases on what’s typically the busiest Internet shopping day.
For American shoppers, Thanksgiving is more than just a day that brings family together to enjoy a feast of turkey, stuffing, and homemade macaroni and cheese.
In-store sales fell an estimated 10.4 percent to
$20.4 billion from Thanksgiving to Sunday compared to 2014, according to retail analytics firm ShopperTrak. Black Friday added an estimated $10.21 billion in sales, some 11.9% below Black Friday of 2014.
“The success of the holiday season doesn’t hinge on the performance of a single day”, said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak’s founder.
Amazon.co.uk managing director Christopher North said: “Cyber Monday remains one of our biggest days and continues to grow every year but its position as the biggest day in the online retail calendar has now been taken by Black Friday”. Over the last two years, Americans have spent more during Cyber Monday than on Thanksgiving or Black Friday.
The average Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday shopper spent $557 on those two days, which included $245 spent in physical stores, $120 with online-only retailers, $110 online via retailers with a physical presence, for items shipping to their home and $82 online via retailers with a physical presence, for items to pick up in store. But it is maintaining its forecast for 2.4 percent in-store holiday sales growth.
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He said: “Retailers still have more opportunities to reach customers in the run up to Christmas, with Manic Monday on December 7 representing the time when consumers look to order gifts to ensure they receive them before Christmas, before the traditional Boxing Day sales begin”.
