Black Friday Verdict: More Shoppers Spending Less

30 Nov, 2009 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Nearly 200 million Americans descended upon retailers and the Internet on Black Friday — the annual post-Thanksgiving retail holiday designed to jumpstart the winter holiday shopping season — but spent less than last year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).

The Washington, D.C.-based trade organization said consumers spent $41.2 billion over the holiday weekend with average shopper spending at $343.31 person, compared to $372.57 per person a year ago.

Shoppers’ destination of choice over the Nov. 27-29 weekend seemed to be department stores, with nearly half (49%) of holiday shoppers visiting at least one, a 12.9% increase from last year, according to the NRF.

Discount retailers, including Wal-Mart and Target, took an uncharacteristic back seat, with 43% of holiday shoppers heading to discount stores over the weekend and another 8% heading to outlet stores.

“In an economy like this one, every retailer wants to be a discounter,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF president and CEO. “Department stores have done an admirable job touting both low prices and good quality, which are important requirements for holiday shoppers on a budget.”

That said, more than 40% of Black Friday shoppers sought out movie DVDs and videogames, according to the NRF, which attributed the interest to intense pre-holiday marketing by big box retailers.

Shoppers also visited electronics stores (29%), clothing stores (23%) and grocery stores (20%).

Indeed, traffic at many major CE retailers was heavy over the weekend as consumers took advantage of special Black Friday weekend promotions.

Consumer sampling at several retail locations by Consumer Electronics Association found nearly 40% of consumers believed traffic this year was heavier than last Black Friday, and nearly 80% believed it was at least as busy, if not more so, than last year.

Over half of consumers interviewed were in the store to buy a specific holiday gift and to take advantage of a specific promotion.

CEA’s holiday study, released Oct. 19, showed notebooks, flat-panel TVs, Blu-ray Disc players and smartphones would be popular.

“Consumers found attractive technology offerings this weekend, consistent with CEA’s earlier Black Friday predictions that consumers are making this holiday a digital one,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and director of research. “Research confirms that TVs, digital cameras and Blu-ray players were the top attraction on Black Friday.”

Black Friday saw $595 million in online sales, making it the second heaviest online spending day to date in 2009 and representing an 11% increase versus Black Friday 2008, according to comScore.

The Reston, Va.-based data tracking company said for the holiday season-to-date, $10.57 billion has been spent online, marking a 3% increase versus the corresponding days last year.

“While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Five online retail sites surpassed 4 million U.S. unique visitors on Black Friday, with each of these properties experiencing gains versus last year.

Amazon sites were the most visited retail property on Black Friday, growing 28% from the corresponding shopping day a year ago, followed closely by Walmart.com, which grew 22%. Apple.com (up 39%), Target Corp. (up 2%) and Best Buy (up 24%) rounded out the top five.

“Much attention has focused on Amazon and Wal-Mart this season, and both retailers performed particularly well online on Black Friday in terms of attracting visitors,” Fulgoni said. “We will be watching closely to see how these retailers perform during these next critical weeks of the season.”

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