It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the nation's retailers after a blockbuster weekend where 133 million shoppers flooded stores hunting for popular electronics, clothing, and music. An NRF survey conducted by BIGresearch found that the average shopper spent $265.15 this weekend, bringing total weekend spending to $22.8 billion.
The $22.8 billion shoppers spent over the weekend will represent more than 10 percent of the $220 billion expected in total holiday sales this year. Though Black Friday weekend was a success for many retailers, stores recognize that the bulk of holiday shopping is yet to come.
"Retailers know that the holiday season is not a sprint, it's a marathon," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. "Black Friday weekend is just the beginning of a month-long race to the finish line."
Of those who shopped, many headed out on Friday (64.6%) but consumers were also shopping on Saturday (54.1%) and Sunday (25.3%). In addition, nine million people got a head start on the crowds by shopping on Thanksgiving Day.
Consumers were out shopping for a variety of merchandise this weekend. According to the survey, 49.1 percent of consumers purchased clothing or clothing accessories this weekend while 45.5 percent bought books, CDs, DVDs, videos and video games. Also, 31.2 percent of shoppers purchased electronics.
A variety of retailers benefited from favorable weather and heavy discounting this weekend. According to the survey, the majority of shoppers headed to discounters (61.8%) though department stores (44.3%) and specialty stores (40.5%) also saw strong traffic. As expected, online retailers also had a solid weekend, with nearly one in three consumers (29.3%) choosing to do some of their holiday shopping over the Internet.
"High energy costs may pose a unique challenge to discount retailers this holiday season," said Phil Rist, Vice President of Strategy for BIGresearch. "Discounters' core shoppers have less discretionary income and are the most likely to be affected by higher gas prices."
As of Sunday, November 28, the average person has completed 36.8 percent of their holiday shopping. Only one in 12 consumers (8.3%) are finished with their holiday shopping.
About the Survey
The NRF 2004 Black Friday Weekend Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey, which polled 4,665 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from November 26-27, 2004. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percent.
BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch's syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 7,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.
The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet and independent stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.4 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 23 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2003 sales of $3.8 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations.
