by Robin Fiedler
The preliminary Black Friday numbers are in, and retail sales are indicating a slight increase over last year. However, online sales, not surprisingly, are increasing at a faster rate. The total dollars spent online is small compared to the dollars that stores and malls take in. But even though online sales are only a fraction of “real” world sales, the shift is dramatic. 
ShopperTrak RCT Corp., “a Chicago research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 stores, showed shoppers spent $10.66 billion when they hit the malls on the day after Thanksgiving. That’s only 0.5 percent more than last year when Black Friday sales rose a striking 3 percent,” according to Ashley M. Heher of the Associated Press.
Online sales showed a more significant increase on Black Friday, according to Coremetrics, QVC, PayPal, and GSI Commerce. Heher notes, “Web marketing analyst Coremetrics said its data showed the average amount online shoppers spent on Black Friday rose 35 percent as shoppers spent roughly $170.19 per order - up from $126.04 last year.”
In addition to Coremetrics’ initial numbers, Heher says, “Shop-by-television sales were also strong at the TV shopping network QVC, which said its Black Friday sales totaled $32 million - up almost 60 percent from last year, thanks to its first-ever push to promote its post-Thanksgiving deals.” QVC’s dramatic increase may be attributed to Black Friday’s psychological effect on consumers. We associate the term with expecting the best deals.
EBay registered a total of 1,027,807 billion transactions in a 24 hour period for Black Friday. It has a really nifty animation application that tracks its sales on a map of the United States at “Wonder What Black Friday Really Looks Like…”. The hot spots were in the Northeast and Southeast, as well as a few major cities in Texas and California.
Janet Morrissey of Time reports that “PayPal reported a 25% increase in the dollar volume of sales on Thanksgiving Day from the same day a year ago, according to Amanda Pires, senior director at PayPal.” PayPal is becoming an increasingly ubiquitous payment method on the web, so an increase in dollar volume may not mean an increase in sales but simply an increase in paying through PayPal rather than other payment methods. That said, even a portion of the 25% increase indicating increased sales is a good sign for e-tailers.
Morrissey also reports on GSI Commerce, a company that runs about 80 e-commerce websites for retailers and fashion designers. GSI’s “web retailers averaged 520 orders in their peak minute of sales on Black Friday, up from 430 orders during the peak minute a year ago. “‘It was about 20% higher orders per minute than it was last year’.” It’s another good sign for online apparel retailers.
And so as the numbers continue to flow in, we may be noting a steady shift towards e-consumerism, a preference for staying home and clicking the mouse instead of turning the car keys in the middle of a rainy, chilly Thanksgiving night. Cyber Monday may have even more promise.
Sources
Heher, Ashley M. “Black Friday Store Spending Edges Up; Online Soars.” Associated Press on Yahoo News. 28 Nov. 2009.
Morrissey, Janet. “Black Friday Sales Were Encouraging Retailers Say.” Time. 27 Nov. 2009.
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