Black Friday Sales Economic Data Rises
Friday sales from retailers in shopping malls were slightly above last years numbers. Black Friday turned out to be better than last year even with 9.6 percent unemployment. The increase in sales was 0.3 percent above last year and overall sales were 10.7 billion according to ShopperTrak. ShopperTrak research tracks information from 70,000 retail stores and found that some electronics such as television prices are falling more than 15 percent than in the prior year.
ShopperTrak found that 2.2 percent more customers went shopping on Black Friday although sales were lower due to heavy discounting. We believe this may be encouraging news due to the heavy pessimism from just a few weeks ago. Will Black Friday 2011 be any worse? Cyber Monday numbers may not be significantly higher than last year but there may be an increase in online shopping over the holiday period. Business owners may be less receptive to post holiday shirking and online shoppers are now more savvy. The cyber shopping trend is now stronger than in years past. The last few days before the holidays will be characterized by deep deals and shoppers may be anticipating more discounts. Prices may decrease further for some electronics and clothing as pent up inventory is sold.
