IBM says that Thanksgiving online sales – amassed by way of its Benchmark survey tracking thousands of sites – overall were up 26% compared to a year ago.
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People who don’t follow the economy closely likely don’t know that an increase in online sales is quite unlikely to offset a decrease in brick-and-mortar store sales. Additionally, many buyers see Cyber Monday as a way to pick up products they want without the clamor and confusion that accompanies Black Friday. Some had already shopped on Thursday evening, reflecting a new normal of United States holiday shopping, where stores open up with deals on Thanksgiving itself, rather than waiting until Black Friday. Ashley Walton got out early to go to stores on Black Friday, but she left disappointed.
Adobe released online sales totals and insights for Black Friday and Thanksgiving last night, at about 7:30 p.m. EST. In New York City, Wal-Mart workers and their supporters planned to protest outside the apartment of Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, in support of $15-an-hour pay. It also expects about 135.8 million people will be shopping during the four-day weekend, compared with 133.7 million previous year. “With almost 90 percent of respondents planning to go online at some point during the holiday weekend, digital retailing is about more than an online transaction”.
Currys PC World also reported its biggest-ever start to Black Friday with eight sales per second and 100 large screen TVs selling per minute online.
Many stores pushed discounts on holiday merchandise early. Holiday deals are available for several days now, stretching beyond Black Friday and a lot of people are choosing to shop online.
According to Progressive, there are 34 percent more auto accidents on Black Friday. American holiday shoppers are expected to spend almost $600 each on gifts this year, and more than $800 each on all holiday items, including decorations.
25 percent more social media buzz than past year with almost 4 million mentions.
Jorgette Clark, 27, said her budget would probably be lower this year because her husband works in the energy industry.
BLACK Friday was on its way to becoming the biggest online shopping day in United Kingdom history as consumers shunned the high street in search of bargains on the web.
J.C. Penney’s CEO Marvin Ellison said: “We saw customers going back and forth, researching online and then go to the stores”.
For some shoppers, Thanksgiving and Black Friday ran together.
“There was a very long line, a few tents and a lot of lawn chairs”, Spencer said.
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Best Buy has deals by the day, Toys R Us by the hour, bringing in crowds at differnt parts of the day and restocking overnight.
