Black Friday sales jump online and in stores: data
SUN-TIMES November 25, 2012 5:28PM
Dina Shaw, during Black Friday shopping at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg Friday, November 23, 2012. l John H. White ~Sun-Times
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The extended shopping hours over the Thanksgiving weekend paid off for the nation’s retailers, according to data released Sunday.
The National Retail Federation estimated that shoppers spent $59.1 billion over the weekend, compared with $52.4 billion over Thanksgiving weekend in 2011, an increase of 6.7 percent.
The federation estimated 139.4 million adults visited stores and online retail sites in the United States during the Thursday-through-Sunday period, up from 131 million last year — a 6.4 percent increase. Counting repeat visitors, the federation estimated 247 million shoppers browsed and bought during the Black Friday period, vs. 226 million last year.
Meanwhile, comScore reported a jump in Black Friday online shopping, with $1.04 billion in online sales, a 26 percent increase compared to a year ago. Online sales on Thanksgiving Day, a day that historically had not been big for online shopping, grew 32 percent increase $633 million, according to comScore.
IBM Benchmark, which tracks online sales, said on Thanksgiving, online sales this year rose 17.4 percent over 2011. Of that, mobile shopping, or shopping on smartphones and tablets, rose 18.3 percent. Meanwhile, online sales on Black Friday were up 20.7 percent.
