Black Friday shows slight increase in sales

November 28, 2010 | 16:12

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Black Friday, the official start of the holiday shopping season in the United States, showed a 2.2-per cent boost in the number of shoppers going to the malls, according to early estimates Saturday.

But the estimates showed only a 0.3-per cent increase in spending.

The company ShopperTrak, which monitors the sales said retail sales increased 0.3 per cent on last year with consumers spending $10.69 billion in various retail locations.

Comparatively, sales on Black Friday 2009 increased 0.5 per cent versus Black Friday 2008, with $10.66 billion spent.

"This means the American shopper has adapted to the economic climate over the last couple of years and is possibly spending more wisely as the holiday season begins," said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin.

Many retailers pushed consumers to their websites with various online only sales, which most likely had also influenced Black Friday performance, he added.

This tendency was confirmed by PayPal, an online payment service, which reported approximately a 27-per cent increase in total payment volume on Black Friday 2010, compared to the previous year.

"The tough economy has made shoppers more price-conscious, and this year's Black Friday results show that they're going online to find the best deals," said Amanda Pires, senior director at PayPal.

"With the convenience of shopping from a laptop or mobile phone, more people are choosing to avoid the long lines, parking chaos and early morning rush in exchange for great online deals available from the comfort of their homes," she added.

AFP

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