Holiday shopping up, but Black Friday down: report
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shoppers increased their holiday spending as the 2013 season began, but earlier visits to retail outlets cut into Black Friday numbers, a company that tracks retail sales reported Saturday. Overall,spending on Thanksgiving and Friday increased 2.3% over 2012 to $12.3 billion for the two days, ShopperTrak reported. But Black Friday sales decreased 13.2% compared with 2012, ShopperTrak said. “The Black Friday shopping experience is changing with more shoppers choosing to go out on Thanksgiving Day,” Bill Martin, ShopperTrak’s founder, said in a news release. “Consumers increasingly research products online before entering stores. When they arrive, customers know exactly what they want to buy — retailers now need to make their experience a satisfying one.” The West posted the strongest two-day sales with a 6% increase compared with 2012, while the Northeast reported a 7% decrease, ShopperTrak said. A nasty winter storm hit much of that region just before Thanksgiving.
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