U.S. consumers spent a total of $52.4 billion over the course of this year’s Black Friday weekend, reports PC Mag. Author: Chris Taylor
U.S. consumers spent a total of $52.4 billion over the course of this year’s Black Friday weekend, reports PC Mag.
Data from the National Retail Federation (NRF) reveals that spending from Thursday through Sunday smashed last year’s spending, up 16.4 per cent. On average, each consumer spent $398.62 this year, compared to $365.34 in 2010.
Online shopping had another incredibly popular year, with merchant services handling transactions worth $150.53 per person. Internet payments accounted for approximately 37.8 per cent of this year’s total spending ($19.8 billion).
As for which retailers fared best online; a poll taken by ComScore on Saturday suggested that the online giant Amazon led the pack, taking 50 per cent more visitors than any other retailer. It was followed by Wal-Mart and Best-Buy, reports CNet. All three recorded double-digit gains in web traffic over 2010.
“Each of the top online retailers generated significantly greater Black Friday activity compared to last year,” confirmed ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, who also revealed that Amazon.com had the highest growth rate.
“It is telling that the top multi-channel retailers also showed strong growth in visitors, demonstrating the importance of the online channel to the retail industry as a whole,” he added.
The next big challenge for retailers comes today, on Cyber Monday, when even more consumers are expected to shop online. According to Shop.org, the digital branch of the NRF, 122.9 million Americans plan on spending today compared to 106.9 million last year.
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