Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Black Friday shopping to jump 16%

Black Friday shopping to jump 16%

Survey says number of people 'definitely' heading to stores increased to 57 million from 49 million in 2008.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Black Friday shopping is expected to pick up more than 16% this year, according to a survey released Tuesday.

A staggering 57 million people said they would "definitely" head to stores this year, up from 49 million in 2008, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

An additional 77 million said they would wait to decide after seeing the weekend deals.

And they could be persuaded, according to NRF president Tracy Mullin.

Dirty secrets of Black Friday 'doorbusters'
"Regardless of what we've already seen these last few weeks in terms of promotions, retailers still have a few tricks up their sleeves to excite Black Friday shoppers," Mullin said in a statement. "Americans can expect huge sales on popular items like toys, electronics and apparel."

Overall, up to 134 million people said they will shop on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday following Thanksgiving, up 6% from 128 million people the previous year.

The survey said 66.3% of consumers said they will head to department stores and 62.4% to big box stores on the day that kicks off the holiday shopping season. About 41.0% will shop at electronic stores, 36.3% at clothing stores, and 28.8% at grocery stores. With increased cyber deals from retailers, 27.6% said they would shop online.

A modest 10.3% said they would get to stores to scour for deals as early as midnight, according to the survey, while 28.8% said they would arrive around dawn, between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Another 28.2% said they would shop between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.

0:00 /1:43Post-Turkey Day price carving
Some stores are extending hours on Black Friday so consumers have more time to shop for their "doorbuster" deals.

Toys R Us announced last week it will open at midnight on Thanksgiving and offer deals 70 deals then and 50 more "doorbuster" deals at 5 a.m.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) also said its 810 stores that are not already open 24-hours will pull all-nighters for Black Friday.

cnn

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