More shoppers sought toys over Black Friday weekend
By Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 11/30/2009 9:49:00 AM
WASHINGTON—While overall retail sales rose only incrementally for the Thanksgiving day weekend, the percentage of shoppers who purchased toys grew by nearly 13 percent, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey of consumers.
According to NRF’s Black Friday shopping survey, conducted by BIGresearch, 195 million shoppers visited stores and websites duringr this year’s Black Friday weekend, up from 172 million last year. However, the average spending over the weekend dropped to $343.31 per person from $372.57 a year ago. Total spending reached an estimated $41.2 billion, essentially flat compared to last year.
“Shoppers proved this weekend that they were willing to open their wallets for a bargain, heading out to take advantage of great deals on less expensive items like toys, small appliances and winter clothes,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO. “While retailers are encouraged by the number of Americans who shopped over Black Friday weekend, they know they have their work cut out for them to keep people coming back through Christmas. Shoppers can continue to expect retailers to focus on low prices and bargains through the end of December.”
Nearly one-third (32.2 percent) of shoppers purchased toys, an increase of 12.9 percent from last year, according to the survey. Additionally, more people purchased sporting goods (12.6 percent vs. 11.4 percent last year), personal care or beauty items (22.4 percent vs. 19.0 percent) and gift cards (21.2 percent vs. 18.7 percent). The most popular purchases were of clothing (50.9 percent) and books (40.3 percent), which remained nearly unchanged over last year.
Shoppers’ destination of choice over the past weekend was department stores, with nearly half (49.4 percent) of holiday shoppers visiting at least one, a 12.9 percent increase from last year, the survey found. Discount retailers, somewhat surprisingly, were relegated to second place with 43.2 percent of holiday shoppers heading their way over the weekend and another 7.8 percent heading to outlet stores. Shoppers also visited electronics stores (29 percent), clothing stores (22.9 percent), and grocery stores (19.6 percent).One-fourth of Americans shopping over the weekend (28.5 percent) were shopping online.
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