U.S. Black Friday Weekend Rings Up $22.8 Billion in Sales

The crucial pre-Christmas shopping period got off to a tremendous start over the Black Friday weekend with 133 million shoppers flooding stores and spending an average $265.15 each as they put $22.8 billion into the nation’s cash tills.

The $22.8 billion will represent more than 10 percent of the $220 billion expected in total holiday sales this year as shoppers hunted for bargains in consumer electronics, clothing, and music stores, according to a survey for the National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted by BIGresearch.

Although the Black Friday weekend is being regarded as 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."

Most shoppers (64.6 percent) headed out on Friday while a hefty 54.1 percent saw Saturday as a good day to wade through the stores and 25.3 percent went shopping on Sunday. Meanwhile, nine million people got a head start on the crowds by shopping on Thanksgiving Day itself.

According to the survey, 49.1 percent of consumers purchased clothing or clothing accessories, 45.5 percent of purchasers bought books, CDs, DVDs, videos and video games, and 31.2 percent of shoppers purchased electronics goods.

A variety of retailers benefited from favorable weather and heavy discounting, with the majority of shoppers - 61.8 percent - heading to discounters, while 44.3 percent shopped at department stores and 40.5 percent at specialty stores. Meanwhile, online retailers also had a solid weekend, with 29.3 percent of consumers 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.”

And there’s more good news for retailers: as of Sunday, the average person had completed just 36.8 percent of their holiday shopping, while only one in 12 consumers (8.3 percent) are finished with their holiday shopping.