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Americans spend and retail sales gain 7%
Source: Bloomberg News |
November 28, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BLACK Friday sales rose 6.6 percent to the largest amount ever as American consumers shrugged off 9 percent unemployment and went shopping.
Consumers spent US$11.4 billion, ShopperTrak said in a statement on Saturday. Foot traffic rose 5.1 percent on Black Friday, according to the Chicago-based research firm.
"This is the largest year-over-year gain in ShopperTrak's National Retail Sales Estimate for Black Friday since the 8.3 percent increase we saw between 2007 and 2006," ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said in the statement.
"Still, it's just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season."
The brisk turnout came as retailers from Gap Inc to Wal-Mart Stores Inc to Toys 'R' Us Inc opened their doors earlier than ever. The move to turn Black Friday into more than just one day also spurred online sales, which gained 39 percent on Thanksgiving and 24 percent on Black Friday, according to International Business Machines Corp's Coremetrics.
Many shoppers were rookies who had never before participated in the busiest shopping day of the year, dubbed Black Friday because many retailers are said to become profitable then. As many as 152 million people were expected to shop at stores and websites on Black Friday, up 10 percent from last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Macy's Inc's CEO Terry Lundgren said he was struck by how many people in their 20s descended on the chain's flagship store in Manhattan.
"It was almost a continuation of whatever social experience they were having hours before," he said.
Consumers spent US$11.4 billion, ShopperTrak said in a statement on Saturday. Foot traffic rose 5.1 percent on Black Friday, according to the Chicago-based research firm.
"This is the largest year-over-year gain in ShopperTrak's National Retail Sales Estimate for Black Friday since the 8.3 percent increase we saw between 2007 and 2006," ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said in the statement.
"Still, it's just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season."
The brisk turnout came as retailers from Gap Inc to Wal-Mart Stores Inc to Toys 'R' Us Inc opened their doors earlier than ever. The move to turn Black Friday into more than just one day also spurred online sales, which gained 39 percent on Thanksgiving and 24 percent on Black Friday, according to International Business Machines Corp's Coremetrics.
Many shoppers were rookies who had never before participated in the busiest shopping day of the year, dubbed Black Friday because many retailers are said to become profitable then. As many as 152 million people were expected to shop at stores and websites on Black Friday, up 10 percent from last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Macy's Inc's CEO Terry Lundgren said he was struck by how many people in their 20s descended on the chain's flagship store in Manhattan.
"It was almost a continuation of whatever social experience they were having hours before," he said.
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