Black Friday Results Signal Strong Holiday Sales
by Doug Desjardins
The early results are in for Black Friday and nearly all signal a strong holiday shopping season.
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) said its index of 30 major retail chains reported a 3.5-percent increase in sales for the week of Thanksgiving, strong results that are expected to produce an overall increase of 3 percent for November sales. 
In another positive sign, an NPD Group survey showed 35 percent of Black Friday shoppers bought something for themselves during their shopping trips. NPD retail analyst Marshall Cohen said that figure represents “a strong number for any year,” noting that the seven-year average for consumers who "self-buy" their own gifts is 25 percent.
Ken Perkins, an analyst with Retail Metrics, said the high number of consumers who were self-buying on Black Friday is a good sign for retailers. “This is incremental income and sales to them,” said Perkins.
Individual retail chains picked up on the trend. JC Penney chief executive Myron Ullman said shoppers are showing a greater interest in higher-end “aspirational purchases” this year along with “a return to self-gifting, which has not been evident the past two years.”
Analysts also noted that door-buster sales – perhaps watered down by weeks of early Black Friday sales – were not as aggressive as those in recent years, which reflects greater confidence among retailers who feel they don’t have to slash prices to attract consumers. But all those early Black Friday sales were a sign in themselves that retailers still feel some need to use extra gimmicks to grab budget-conscious shoppers.
“Spending power is there but consumer confidence is not,” said Scott Krugman, vice president of the National Retail Federation. “And retailers are tapping into that spending power with some clever promotions.”
Another good sign for retailers is that consumers are continuing to buy later into the shopping season, a trend that emerged in 2009. The ICSC survey showed that only 32.6 percent of consumers finished their holiday shopping at the end of Thanksgiving week, a percentage much lower than in recent years.
ICSC chief economist Michael Niemira said the survey results “suggest that December will continue to see brisk sales as shoppers catch-up on the completion of their holiday gift-buying.”
The early results for Cyber Monday also brought welcome news to retailers. According to research firm comScore, Cyber Monday was the busiest online shopping day in history, with sales topping $1 billion for the first time at $1.03 billion. That total was 18 percent higher than the $887 million in sales generated in 2009. The average shopper spent 12% more than last year, with the total number of shoppers increasing 4 percent, according to comScore.
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