After the turkey and pumpkin pie was finished, consumers focused their attention on a feast of a different sort: holiday shopping. As retailers rushed to put the final touches on their stores before pre-dawn openings, consumers left their houses early to stand in line and be the first to welcome in the official start of the holiday shopping season.
“Retailers knew they had to offer promotions enticing enough to get shoppers out of bed on a chilly day, and they delivered,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Though retailers are anticipating a challenging holiday season, they are encouraged by the enthusiasm that their Black Friday sales generated.”
As anticipated, many of today's best promotions were on electronics, jewelry, clothing and toys.
“In addition to promotions on high-ticket items like high-definition televisions and diamond necklaces, retailers chose to highlight lower-priced merchandise like digital photo frames, hand mixers and sterling silver jewelry on Black Friday this year,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin.
“While many of these items will remain popular during the holiday season, there is strong interest in them today simply because the prices are irresistible.”
In addition to shopping in malls and stand-alone retail stores, NRF is also expecting consumers to flood retailers' websites this Monday.
According to Shop.org, a division of NRF, 72.2 percent of online retailers are planning a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 42.7 percent just two years ago. More than 400 special offers will be featured on CyberMonday.com, a one-stop shop for consumers looking for the best Cyber Monday deals.
NRF estimates that holiday sales will rise 4.0 percent this year to $474.5 billion. NRF's holiday sales forecast is based on an economic model using indicators like housing data, unemployment and previous monthly retail sales reports and includes retail industry sales from November and December.
National Retail Federation
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