Thanksgiving And Black Friday Generate Over $12 Billion In Retail Sales

By Sam Lewis

Mobility and e-commerce drive 2013 holiday shopping season’s beginning

In an effort to create extra time for Black Friday shopping, retailers across the nation opened their doors for holiday shoppers on Thanksgiving night. The idea drew in the crowds, but unfortunately, it didn’t motivate shoppers to open their pocketbooks.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Thanksgiving Day shopping traffic increased 27 percent, with nearly one-third of shoppers making shopping trips on the holiday. Many retailers opened earlier than ever, with Kmart leading the way, opening at six o’clock Thanksgiving morning. “Most interesting is the amount of energy the consumer put into Thursday shopping," says Bill Martin, founder of ShopperTrak. "The retailers did a good job getting them up from the dinner table and into stores.”

Thanksgiving and Black Friday fell a week later in the season than normal, forcing retailers to push pre-Black Friday deals, causing a shift to earlier consumer spending. Thanksgiving night and Black Friday combined for an estimated $12.3 billion in retail sales, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based shopping analytics firm. The NRF estimated the four-day weekend to generate $57.4 billion in sales, falling from $59.1 billion in 2012. This year, shoppers spent nearly $410 on average throughout the holiday weekend, down about $15 from 2012’s Thanksgiving weekend totals.

Online retailers and e-commerce continue to gain ground against traditional brick-and-mortar shopping. The NRF estimates 92 million consumers shopped online over Thanksgiving weekend searching for holiday gifts, up from 89 million last year. Nearly half of those 92 million shopped online on Black Friday. Subsequently, foot traffic at brick-and-mortar stores dropped more than 11 percent that day. Driving online sales were mobile devices. Against last year, website traffic from tablets was up almost 90 percent and 66 percent from smartphones, says e-commerce firm Monetate. The agency also found that the average order was up to $173, 18 percent higher than 2012. It is also important to note, and should come as no surprise, that Thanksgiving Day e-commerce revenue  was up nearly 40 percent compared to last year.

Overall, the weekend gave Americans opportunities to shop any way they could, but sales for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday only climbed 2.3 percent versus 2012. This figure brings to a halt the early holiday season shopping growth that was made through November, and backs up the NRF prediction of a modest 3 to 4 percent increase in holiday sales. Mobility, e-commerce, and early Thanksgiving deals may have encouraged holiday shopping, but economic conditions may have not yet improved enough for a sharp uprising in holiday sales.

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