Spending is predicted to soar by 31% on past year as stores offer discounts exclusively on the internet following the Black Friday weekend.
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And it expects sales overall for November and December to rise 3.7% to $630.5 billion (594 billion euros), compared with the same period a year ago.
In Denver early on Black Friday, the crowds were similarly thin.
Although he does not traditionally shop on Black Friday, Alan Batchelor of Vacaville was at Best Buy to make a purchase.
Shoppers were out and about and many of them told 11 News they were exhausted having already hit the stores the night before. “We’ve been out since five yesterday”, said Shelby Huffman.
For Elizabeth Reese of Whitehall and her sister Michelle Reese of Philadelphia, it had been about 10 years since their last picture with Santa, so they too got in line for a fresh photo. “You get just as good a deals online as you do in the store, without fighting the crowds”. After last year’s images of crazed consumerist brawls from an Asda superstore, Black Friday has gotten a bit of a rep for bargain brutality.
“One of the ladies behind the counter was telling us that last night was insane, but right now these early morning hours are good”, said Flor Rosales.
“This year, we saw Black Friday ads emerge before Halloween”, he said, and in-store sales were bigger in the days leading up to Black Friday, “which is a result of retailers successfully elongating the holiday season”.
One big exception: J.C. Penney, which is opening two hours earlier at 3 p.m. on the holiday. On Thanksgiving, consumers are increasingly opting to shop from home.
About 50 percent of adult Americans are expected to shop on Black Friday, according to the cash-back website Ebates. even though the holiday retail season kicks off on Thanksgiving,.
Target’s Chief Executive Brian Cornell said online sales at the discount retailer were off to a “very strong” start. It also said it’s asking shoppers different questions, which has led it to report numbers that vary significantly from those it’s gotten in previous years. Its best sellers were televisions, game consoles and movies and toys generated by Star Wars.
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Some of the fastest trending products Thursday included NordicTracktreadmills, Toshiba Satellite laptops and Lego Disney Princess, according to IBM Watson Trend, which also tracks tens of millions of online conversations through social media, reviews, blogs and comments.
