Black Friday OK at Stores, but Great Online with Jewelry Sales +17.6%

Online sales were up 15.9 percent, with consumers pushing the average order value up to $190.80 from $170.19, an increase of 12.1 percent, according to Coremetrics.

Jewelry retailers reported a 17.6 percent increase in sales, reported Coremetrics, which measure retailers’ e-commerce data. It said that affluent shoppers appear very willing to open their wallets.

ShopperTrak, which records sales and customer traffic at more than 70,000 stores and malls, said early holiday sales and door buster promotions impacted Friday’s performance. The company saw some unexpected strength in early November – as sales and traffic for the first two weeks of the month through November 13 increased 6.1 and 6.2 percent respectively.

ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin says this early boost could impact retail performance beyond Black Friday and into the weeks leading into Super Saturday.

Yet Black Friday’s importance was clear from the long lines on sidewalks, store entryways and parking lots as early as midnight as buyers were waiting to get their hands on retailers’ Black Friday deals, including discounted HDTVs, toys, Blu-ray players, jewelry, home appliances and apparel.

“Retailers nationwide have impressed even the most skeptical consumers, offering aggressive prices on a variety of merchandise which attracted both gift buyers and even some who braved the crowds to go shopping for themselves,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “While Black Friday weekend is only a small piece of the very large holiday pie, holiday retail sales seem to be off to a great start.”

NRF estimates that holiday sales will increase 2.3 percent this year to $447.1 billion. IDEX Online forecasts jewelry sales to increase by 3 percent at most. Diamond jewelry sales alone are predicted to go up by no more than 2 percent.