Black Friday weekend sees big boost

Earlier-than-ever store openings and steep discounts helped retailers notch record sales this Black Friday weekend, according to early reports. Total spending over the four-day weekend following Thanksgiving reached a record $52.4 billion, up 16% from $45 billion last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation released Sunday. A record 226 million consumers shopped in stores and online between Thursday and Sunday, up from 212 million last year. Individual shoppers spent more, too, the NRF said. The average holiday shopper shelled out $398.62, up from $365.34 in 2010. Earlier openings at big-box retailers like Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Target was one factor boosting sales—particularly among men and young adults, according to the early tally. Nearly one-quarter of Black Friday shoppers were at stores by midnight on Black Friday, up from only 9.5% in 2010, the NRF said. “I would say that means we will have to be on the look-out for a new tradition, and that is more and more stores will be opening on Thanksgiving night next year,” Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group, said in a statement. In a separate survey released Saturday, ShopperTrak said retail sales on Black Friday alone climbed 6.6% this year to an estimated $11.4 billion. Online retailers also played a bigger role this year with a slew of deep discounts and promotions well before Cyber Monday. Online sales were up 39.3% on Thanksgiving Day and 24.3% on Black Friday, when compared to the same days last year, according to IBM’s Coremetrics, which tracks real-time data from 500 retailers in the apparel, department store, health and beauty, and home goods categories. Cyber Monday could also notch a new record, according to online tracking firm ComScore. Online sales for 2011 are projected to hit $1.2 billion, up from $1 billion last year, Andrew Lipsman, ComScore’s industry analyst, said. Read the full story here.