Black Friday sales were record breaking this year even though there were less people in stores.
The National Retail Federation conducts several surveys each year before and after Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. NRF’s Thanksgiving Weekend Survey showed that more than 151 million people in the United States said that they shopped over Thanksgiving weekend. Of these 151 million people, 102 million said they shopped in stores, but an even larger 103 million took advantage of online sales between Thursday and Friday.
This year’s NRF Thanksgiving Weekend Survey showed that those under 35 were most likely to be seen out shopping, and several University students took advantage of the sales both in store and online.
Sophomore Emily Knollman shopped on Black Friday from 4 to 9 a.m.
“I actually find that they have better deals when you go in person than online deals…We have a mall in my town, and almost every store was 50% off,” Knollman said.
Data compiled by Adobe, based on 150 million visits to 4,500 retail websites, estimated that $4.5 billion was spent on online sales alone during Thanksgiving weekend, with about $1.5 billion of that spent on orders using mobile devices such as smart phones.
Of that $4.5 million, the Adobe sales report showed $2.72 billion was spent on Black Friday, 14 percent more than in 2014, and $1.73 billion was spent on Thanksgiving Day, a 25 percent increase from last year, which may be accounted for by the sales beginning earlier on Thanksgiving than ever before.
Another student, freshman Katie Epperson, sees both the benefits and downsides of shopping online.
“Online shopping appeals to the ‘right now, right now’ nagging inside of me,” Epperson said. She said the drawback are that you can’t try clothes on and some stores charge extra for shipping.
Epperson said she found better deals online for the things she wanted than she could find in stores. Specifically Epperson purchased a winter coat that was on sale for over $100 cheaper online, and it had free shipping.
NRF’s survey said that on average shoppers spent $299.60, with about 76.6% of that money spent on gifts for others.
Other Black Friday trends this year included the first decrease in average spending on gift cards since 2009, even though gift cards continue to be the most requested gift, according to NRF’s report. On average, consumers plan to spend $153.08 on gift cards this year, which is down from $172.74 in 2014. Total gift card spending is estimated to reach around $25.9 billion by the end of the Holiday season.
Experts also estimate that Cyber Monday will hit $3 million in sales for the first time in history.
