NRF On Black Friday Weekend: "More People Spent Less"

Shoppers aren’t abandoning the holiday shopping season, as long as there’s a deal to be had. A report put out by the National Retail Federation proves that discount retail will likely rule the holiday season in this tough economic environment.

More shoppers were out over the Black Friday weekend, NRF says, but they spent less. About 195 million people hit stores between Thanksgiving and the following Sunday, compared to 172 million in 2008, but the average amount each customer spent dropped to $343.31, down from $372.57 last year. Overall spending, at $42.1 billion, was flat compared to 2008, and NRF predicts sales for the overall 2009 holiday season will fall one percent.

“We still have double-digit unemployment, problems in the housing market and consumers are still very cautious,” said Scott Krugman, an NRF vice president, during a press briefing on the survey. “Retailers are still going to have their work cut out for them to keep the momentum going.”

Among the big discounts that shoppers grabbed were items like $3 toasters, $18 microwaves and big-screen televisions marked down from last year. Other hot-selling categories were sporting and personal-care goods.

Most shoppers, 49.4 percent, hit department stores, a 12.9 percent increase over last year. “That’s a category of retail that’s been looking really hard to define itself over the last five to 10 years,” remarked Ellen Davis, an NRF vice president, during the call, saying she was surprised by their improvement.

Discount stores collected 43.2 percent of the shoppers surveyed, electronics stores got 29 percent and clothing merchants picked up 22.9 percent.

Meanwhile, one-third of all surveyed started shopping before 5 a.m., a 23-percent increase over last year. “People were willing to get out of bed for a good deal when they were trying to stretch their dollar,” Davis said.

NRF’s survey results were similar to those by research firm ShopperTrak, which said Black Friday sales rose 0.5% from last year. Shoppers were attracted to discounted electronics at both Walmart and Best Buy, its report revealed.

Macy’s parade image by Flickr user Sondra Stewart.