What is social networking really for? Well, networking, of course. The digital version of word-of-mouth is what brands are after, however, as personal recommendations come in the form of Twitter status updates, Facebook wall posts and bookmarked web clippings. Social networking has become a conduit for sharing information we feel is important, hoping that others will feel the same.

Brands looked to this growing capacity of social networking for Black Friday in particular, as both social networking and social media marketing have reached the point of mutual acceptance. That means that brands are looking to social networks as relatively inexpensive ways in which they can leverage the act of the personal recommendation, utilizing individuals as authorities to promote their products.

As Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, getting everyone into the right spirit is a huge commercial task. Sales help towards that end goal of increasing end-of-year sales, but the combination of online word-of-mouth marketing and growing options for online shopping means that Black Friday is becoming a major point of interest for brands.

The expectations surrounding brand marketing for Black Friday 2009 were considerably higher than what we’ve seen in previous years. after last year’s holiday push for virtual goods on networks such as Facebook, many brands are recognizing the potential of social networks for spreading the word about various products and discounted prices.

So how did brands fare this year? Mobile payments increased, which is good for those brands that have a heavy focus on virtual goods and mobile shopping initiatives. Cyber Monday already looks to be more effective for retailers than Black Friday, indicating that online activity is a great conduit for marketing as well.

However, it is difficult to immediately recognize the affect social media marketing has on holiday shopping. This is largely due to the fact that social media marketing has more to do with instilling brand recognition and long term consumer engagement. That makes things like sales easier to measure, but immediate effect more difficult to calculate.

So far surveys have been a useful way to guage consumer attitudes surrounding holiday shopping, for both offline and online initiatives. a recent post on ABC’s news website requests anecdotes from readers sharing their own social networking experience towards holiday shopping, suggesting that the interest in acknowledging any social media influence on our consumer behavior.

Blame it in part on the economy–we’ve seen some major shifts in marketing efforts after the market’s downfall. many companies are looking for cheaper ways in which to accomplish the things they were already doing, including marketing and advertising. That necessity has carried over to social networks, as brands need new ways to disseminate information and consumers need more effective ways of accessing and receiving that information.

Whatever the long-term effects are from this year’s holiday shopping initiatives for social network advertising, we at least know that it will continue to manifest in next year’s efforts as well. The ongoing increase in activity around this will play out in improved ways for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2010, and we will likely see a bigger jump (especially in the mobile realm) between current activity and next year’s.

• 2009/03/24 — Facebook as a Traffic Booster
• 2009/11/30 — Cyber Monday 2009 Survey: Customers Prefer to Shop Online
• 2009/08/22 — Can Advertising keep Up With the new and different?
• 2009/08/05 — Social Media off Limits to US Marines? not so Much
• 2009/06/04 — Social Media and Society Decline
• 2009/03/31 — Social Media Is Cheap and Other Illusions
• 2009/03/27 — Social ER Overrun! – State of the Web 2009

By Andrew LaVallee

Online retailers in the U.S. rang up $595 million on Black Friday, an 11% increase from the day a year ago, comScore said.

According to the market-research firm, U.S. consumers have spent $10.57 billion online from the beginning of the month to Nov. 27, then $318 million on Thanksgiving and $595 million the following day. Pre-Thanksgiving e-commerce sales were up 3%, while Thanksgiving-day sales rose 10%.

Black Friday marked the second-highest day in terms of online spending this year, after Nov. 19, when consumers spent $641 million.

“This is a very encouraging start,” comScore’s chairman, Gian Fulgoni, said in a statement. he noted, however, that aggressive marketing may be responsible for some of the uptick and that the coming weeks would be “the real test” for holiday-season e-commerce.

The retail sites for Amazon.com, Apple, Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart each saw more than 4 million unique visits Friday, comScore said, with Amazon receiving the most traffic (up 28% from 2008). Apple, Best Buy and Wal-Mart sites also experienced double-digit traffic gains. According to Experian Hitwise, another Web monitoring firm, other e-commerce standouts included Sears, Staples and Dell.

Of a handful of Black Friday deal-spotting sites monitored by comScore, BFads.net saw 3.9 million unique visits on Friday, a 4% increased from last year, comScore said. BlackFriday.info traffic fell 17% to 3.5 million uniques, while Black-Friday.net more than doubled to 2.3 million unique visits. Traffic to Black Friday sites overall was up 9%, Hitwise said.

Let the discounting begin.

Bargain-hunting shoppers turned out in droves for Black Friday markdowns, but they didn’t open their pocketbooks as widely as last year, according to several retail firms tracking the data. As a result, retailers are only cautiously optimistic heading into the mainstream holiday season, including today’s Cyber Monday, and experts believe that many stores will likely have to revamp promotions and discounting plans to ensure that inventories will be cleared by Christmas. (See pictures of people shopping on Black Friday.)

Already, retailers are moving aggressively. On Cyber Monday HP was offering a 15.6-in. laptop for $299.99, BestBuy.com was touting a 22-in. Toshiba LCD TV for $279.99 with free shipping and Walmart was hawking a Nintendo Wii “Value Bundle,” including the console and several games, for $249.

The lessons from Black Friday are already sinking in. Shoppers showed that “they’re thriftier, they’re savvier and every one of them wants to be the best bargain hunter out there,” said John Squire, chief strategy officer for Coremetrics, a Web marketing firm, in a statement.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that 195 million people visited stores and websites over the Black Friday holiday weekend, up from 172 million last year. however, shoppers spent less, with average spending dipping 8%, to $343.31 a person from $372.57 a year earlier. Total spending over the holiday kickoff weekend reached $41.2 billion, up only slightly from $41 billion a year ago.

Ellen Davis, an NRF vice president, says shoppers were intensely focused on staying within budget. “Shoppers were looking for deals on lower-priced items — such as $10 toys and $9 books, not $1,000 flat-screen TVs,” said Davis during a conference call on Sunday.

“They charged in and bought the door busters, and when the door busters were out, it was over,” says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a retail consulting and investment banking firm. “By 1 o’clock, there was no more Black Friday — it was over.”

Scott Krugman, an NRF vice president, sees Black Friday as a barometer for consumer sentiment but says it’s not a slam dunk for how the rest of the holiday season will go. last year, for example, shoppers spent 7% more over the Black Friday weekend than they did the year before. Yet holiday sales ultimately fell 3.4%, he notes. (See TIME’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide.)

“Shopper traffic well surpassed our expectations,” says Krugman. however, the dip in spending left him cautious, and he continues to project a 1% sales decline for the total holiday season.

“We still have double-digit unemployment, we still have trouble in the housing market and consumers are still very cautious,” says Krugman. “Retailers are still going to have their work cut out for them in terms of keeping the momentum going.”

On Black Friday alone, preliminary figures indicate that sales rose a modest 0.5%, to $10.66 billion from $10.6 billion a year ago, according to ShopperTrak, a research firm that tracks activity at more than 50,000 retail outlets. Sales fluctuated by region, with the West scoring the biggest increase at 4.7%. this was followed by the Midwest, where sales rose 1.3%, and the South, which posted a 0.6% gain. the Northeast took the biggest hit, with sales tumbling 4.9%. ShopperTrak co-founder Bill Martin reiterated his earlier projection of a 1.6% sales increase for 2009’s holiday season.

Online sales fared considerably better this past weekend. ComScore, a digital research firm, estimates that cyber sales on Black Friday totaled $595 million, making it the second heaviest online spending day so far in 2009 and up 11% from Black Friday 2008. PayPal said it saw 20% more transactions this Black Friday than last year’s and a 140% spike in the number of people making payments by mobile phone. the mobile-phone transaction increase indicates that buyers shopping at brick-and-mortar sites were likely price-checking items with their mobile phones and then purchasing the item where they found it the cheapest.

Coremetrics reports that consumers spent 35% more per online order on Black Friday than they did a year ago, with the average shopper purchasing 18% more items per order than they did last year.

Even QVC, which sells merchandise on its shopping channel and website, reported more than 765,000 orders totaling $32 million in sales on Black Friday — the highest level in the company’s 23-year history and 60% more than last year’s Black Friday sales.

“Online sales clearly did better, but that’s only 4% of total retail sales,” says Davidowitz.

Overall, Black Friday weekend sales indicated consumers’ mood and the direction of their spending, says Jaffe. clearly, shoppers “are deeply focused on price and more thoughtful in their spending.” (Read a brief history of Black Friday.)

Davidowitz speculates that the frugal tone will pressure retailers to discount earlier and possibly deeper than originally planned over the next few weeks. “I think many of them will reassess their numbers and determine that more promotions are in order,” says Davidowitz. “That will be particularly true in department stores,” where women’s apparel has been weak, he says.

Black Friday’s business has left Davidowitz bearish on retailers’ prospects this holiday season. “I expect total holiday sales will be down 1% to 2% — going against last year, which was the worst Christmas in 40 years.”

Davidowitz doesn’t believe discounting will reach last year’s 80% levels, mainly because most retailers ordered up to 20% less inventory this year. “They won’t be as panicked or as big,” he says. the 70% discounts will likely be offered on select items rather than store-wide, as they were last year.

Marshall Cohen, chief retail analyst at NPD Group, sees the Black Friday glass as half-full rather than half-empty. “The fact that retailers were able to sell as much, if not more, product at a 40% discount, compared with last year’s 75% storewide discount, was positive,” says Cohen.

“We’re not looking at an auspicious start or negative perception in the consumer psyche” after seeing Black Friday’s heavy traffic, he says. “But the biggest question is, Will they have the momentum to keep this going?”

Read “Holiday Shopping: this Year It’s a Game of Chicken.”

See more things to do on Black Friday.

the pajamas and sleepwear store, SleepyHeads.com (sleepyheads.com), has just announced a 40% discount on all SleepyHeads and Frankie and Johnny products on Black Friday. the Black Friday offer will be running only on November 27, 2009. using the promo code, ‘FJ40 or SH40′. Sleepyheads.com is also offering a 30% store wide discount applicable only on Black Friday with the promotion code ‘BLACKFRIDAY’. Only one coupon may be used per order.

Other Black Friday discounts offered by SleepyHeads.com include 40% off on Lug and hello Kitty sleepwear line and Frankie & Johnny cosmetic bags at $5, ‘Free Robe’ offer with a purchase of $75 and above will run through November 30, 2009 and can be availed by using the promo code ‘FREEROBE’. Only one coupon can be used per purchase. all other Black Friday deals can be viewed at: sleepyheads.com/blackfriday/.

SleepyHeads.com presents a wide range of sleepwear products, such as pajamas, dressing gowns and lingerie, all at competitive prices. Frankie & Johnny is an in-house brand that presents throwback designs to create nostalgic pajamas inspired by Nick & Nora pajamas. Frankie and Johnny Pajamas lines can be reached at: sleepyheads.com/Browse_by_Brand/Frankie_and_Johnny_Pajamas_and_Robes.

“We’re very excited to be able to offer 40% off on Frankie & Johnny pajamas and SleepyHeads sleepwear,” says Ms. Jennifer Briscoe, representative of SleepyHeads.com, “as not only are they great pajamas, but are perfect Christmas gifts! Frankie & Johnny pajamas come in flannel and cotton and in many styles and prints.”

Sleepyheads pajamas are a new brand exclusive to SleepyHeads.com, and are designed with family in mind. Sleepyheads have a line of matching family pajamas, holiday pjs, Christmas pajamas with seasonal holiday designs. Browse through the SleepyHeads loungewear collection at: sleepyheads.com/Browse_by_Brand/Sleepyheads_Pajamas_and_Loungewear.

“Sleepyheads pajamas is our own pajama line, devoted to making great family pajamas that are not too expensive in today’s economic climate. Sleepyheads pajamas make great Christmas gifts, and with the 40% discount on Black Friday, there’s never been a better time to get your hands on some great value pjs.” stated Ms. Briscoe, “and if your feeling extra Christmassy, then matching pajamas for the whole family might be right up your alley. With matching family pajamas, you can participate in the Family Matching Pajamas Photo Contest going on at SleepyHeads.com!”

More Christmas items are scheduled to be added to the gift lines at SleepyHeads.com in the run up to Christmas. to view current inventory of holiday and Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers, visit: sleepyheads.com/Holiday_Gifts.

“If you are searching for that perfect gift for a loved one, then search no more, as SleepyHeads has exactly what you are looking for! Frankie & Johnny and Sleepyheads pajamas make great Christmas gifts, and you can get something for everyone at the same time with a line of matching family pajamas.” said Ms. Briscoe, “Not only that, but we also have a store wide 30% discount on Black Friday! so, make it a very merry Christmas this year, with SleepyHeads!”

The special Black Friday 40% off discount on Frankie and Johnny and SleepyHeads pajamas can be availed only on Black Friday, November 27, 2009.

About SleepyHeads.com
SleepyHeads.com is a leading retailer of pajamas, sleepwear & lingerie featuring quality loungewear brands & designer labels. the SleepyHeads.com online store provides pajamas, lingerie, women’s pajamas, slippers, robes, men’s pajamas, matching family pajamas, etc.

SleepyHeads.com carried many popular brands that are often featured on TV: the Today show, the Morning show, & Extra. SleepyHeads.com products have also been featured in magazines such as Woman’s World & Oprah.

For Information, contact:
Jennifer Briscoe
1840 Airport Exchange Blvd. #130
Erlanger, KY
Phone: 1-866-638-2172
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: SleepyHeads.com/
Blog: blog.sleepyheads.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/sleepyheads01

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More consumers used their mobile phone to make purchases and compare prices on Black Friday than ever before, according to data reviewed by Dow Jones.

Mostly, the data was compiled from eBay’s PayPal and TheFind.com, a product search engine. PayPal said mobile payments surge nearly 650 percent, compared to last year. Amanda Pires, senior director of marketing, said mobile purchases are increasing as retailers and higher-end phones make it easier to shop on the phone. TheFind.com, which has an iPhone app and a designated mobile version, told Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) that the number of people using phones to comparison shop increased this year. Mobile searches jumped to about 200,000 this year from 5,000 on Black Friday in 2008.

In general, comScore said this year that $595 million was spent shopping from a PC on Nov. 27, making it the second heaviest online spending day to date in 2009 and representing an 11-percent increase versus Black Friday 2008.

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• Smartphone Deals Will be Everywhere In Time for Black Friday

Posted In: E-Commerce, Payment Systems, Micropayments, Mobile, Money

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Topic: Cyber Monday 2009Posted on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

• Buy Nintendo Wii on Amazon.com.

Sponsored Links Related Stories Cyber Monday 2009

This is the first holiday shopping season that has no Wii supply issue in the United States. this year the price of the Wii dropped to $199 and we actually have seen the Wii sell as low as $169.99.
It is no surprise that the Wii is to be found on the top spots of Black Friday sales charts.
Retail Decisions (ReD) a card payment processing company has published their analyses of the Black Friday sales activity. According to their numbers Black Friday 2009 online retail sales have reached $3 billion, up on last year by 52%.

This number supports that Black Friday is more and more also becoming a Cyber Friday.
In addition ReD has identified the top 10 performing consumer products in online sales as follows:

1. TomTom GPS Navigation system
2. Kodak Digital Camera
3. Nintendo Wii
4. Ice Age 3
5. Sony Digital Camera
6. Sansui 19″ LCD TV
7. Sony Bravia LCD TV
8. Ginii Digital Photo Frame
9. Playstation 3 120GB
10. Samsung Digital Camera

Online price comparison site PriceGrabber also published what they saw as the top 10 most popular products for Black Friday 2009:

1. Wii Console
2. nuvi 265WT GPS
3. Apple iPod touch 8GB
4. D90 SLR Digital Camera Kit
5. Digital Rebel XSI 12MP Black Digital SLR Camera w/ Kit
6. nuvi 765T GPS
7. Wii Fit
8. Apple iPod touch 16GB
9. nuvi 255W Wide-Screen Automotive GPS
10. Nintendo DS Limited Edition Pokemon Pack

The Wii can be found in both lists under the top 3.

Black Friday is behind us now and Cyber Monday Sales have already started. Find more Cyber Monday Deals in our ongoing Holiday Sales coverage.
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View the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus

Related TopicsBlack Black Friday Black Friday 2009 GPS Sale Top 10 Wii

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Posted on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Black Friday Sales Rise 0.5% as Crowds Shop for TVs, Computers

Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) — Black Friday sales advanced 0.5percent from a year earlier as discounts on televisions, toysand computers drew budget-conscious crowds across the U.S.,according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp.

Sales for the day after the Thanksgiving holiday rose to$10.7 billion, the Chicago-based research firm said yesterday ina statement. That compared with a 3 percent gain to $10.6billion on Black Friday last year, a “surprisingly strong”result before economic turmoil dragged down sales for the restof the holiday season, ShopperTrak said.

Wal-Mart Stores inc., the world’s largest retailer,attracted consumers with $298 Hewlett-Packard laptop computersand other specials that went on sale at 5 a.m. Best buy inc.,the biggest electronics chain, used $547.99 42-inch Samsungflat-panel TVs to lure shoppers grappling with the highestunemployment in 26 years. The retailer had bigger early-morningcrowds than last year, Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn said.

“The surprise news is that they are actually buying forthemselves as well, due to pent-up demand and frugal fatigue,”Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group inc. saidin a Bloomberg Television interview Nov. 27. “They are saying‘Let’s loosen up the purse strings a little bit,’ but it isstill cautious spending.” NPD, based in Port Washington, NewYork, is a market research firm.

Holiday Shopping Prediction

The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group,said on Nov. 27 that retailers reported “strong” shoppertraffic this year. High-definition TVs, laptops, Zhu Zhu Petsrobotic hamsters and winter coats were among the most popularitems, according to the Washington-based federation.

The day after U.S. Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday,the traditional beginning of holiday buying. Explanations of thephrase’s origins differ, one holding that it’s the weekend whenretailers go to being in the black, profitable for the year.Stores open early on Black Friday and offer early-bird discountsto attract business.

A 4.9 percent sales decrease in the northeast counteredgains in other regions, according to ShopperTrak. Consumertraffic was heavy throughout the country, the research firm,which plans to release store-visit figures in the next few days.

“We’ve seen a gradual retail sales increase over the lasttwo weeks and with Black Friday’s performance, it looks likeNovember will be a positive month for retailers,” Bill Martin,a ShopperTrak co-founder, said in the statement. “The 1.6percent increase we originally predicted for the holiday seasonremains intact.”

Retailers’ chief marketing officers predicted Black Fridaysales would climb an average 1.8 percent from a year ago attheir own stores, according to a survey conducted by BDO SeidmanLLP in October. Ninety-six of 100 executives said they wouldincrease promotions this year, offering the biggest discounts onconsumer electronics.

Discounts on TVs

“Retailers in all sectors have reported strong crowds,”according to an NRF statement Nov. 27.

Walmart fell 33 cents to $54.63 on Nov. 27 in new YorkStock Exchange composite trading. Richfield, Minnesota-basedBest buy lost 43 cents to $42.83.

There seemed to be more discounts on TVs this year, andshoppers were snapping them up, said Charles O’Shea, a new York-based retail analyst with Moody’s Investors Service. In the fourhours he spent checking retailers in northern new Jersey, he sawseveral shoppers standing at bus stops holding flat-panel sets.

“It looks like everybody has caught the promotional bug,”O’Shea said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

The lines in front of Best buy stores were longer and thecompany’s Web site attracted more visitors than in 2008, BestBuy’s Dunn said.

“Those are both directionally important indicators forus,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Samir Patel arrived at noon on Thanksgiving Day with hisbrother and cousin to claim the no. 1 spot in line at Best Buyin Jersey City, new Jersey. The 26-year-old, who has beenunemployed since he graduated with a master’s degree in May, waswaiting to buy a Sony Vaio laptop for $399.99 when the storeopened at 5:30 a.m. the next day.

“It’s the best deal for a laptop this year,” he said.”There’s a minimum of 10 in the store.”

Liberty Media Corp.’s QVC shopping channel said it had morethan $32 million in sales Nov. 27, its best-ever Black Friday,and a 60 percent increase from last year. The previous recordwas $22.3 million in November 2006, said Doug Rose, vicepresident of programming and marketing at QVC.

Holiday sales make up a third or more of retailers’ annualprofit. The International Council of Shopping Centers, a tradegroup, predicted sales at stores open at least a year willadvance 1 percent in November and December after a year-earlier5.8 percent decline, the worst in 40 years.

‘More Traffic’

“There’s a little more traffic than last year across theboard, maybe 10 percent,” Bill Taubman, chief operating officerof Taubman Centers inc., a U.S. real estate investment trustwith 24 malls, said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, kept stores openall night so shoppers could grab items when they went on sale at5 a.m. The world’s largest retailer cut some toy prices to $5.

Toys “R” Us, based in Wayne, new Jersey, had an averageof 1,000 people outside its stores before they opened atmidnight, five hours earlier than last year, said Chairman andCEO Jerry Storch. The chains sold a “significant number” ofApple inc. iPods and tens of thousands of Zhu Zhu Pets robothamsters, he said.

“The last thing parents will cut back on is toys for theirkids,” Storch said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

J.C. Penney, Macy’s

Black Friday shopping at J.C. Penney co. stores was strongthroughout the U.S., the Plano, Texas-based retailer said in ane-mailed statement yesterday.

J.C. Penney, which plans to report November sales on Dec.3, fell $1.07 to $29.57 on Nov. 27 on the new York StockExchange.

At the Macy’s inc. store in new York’s Herald Square,shopper traffic appeared greater than a year ago, and continuedto flow in after the initial rush, Macy’s Chairman and CEO TerryLundgren said. Housewares and jewelry were selling “briskly,”he said.

“Last year we were just getting rid of the inventory webought six months before,” Lundgren said. “This year we’ve hada year to think through what is the sales trend.”

Macy’s, based in Cincinnati, dropped 59 cents to $16.97 onNov. 27 on the new York Stock Exchange.

Promotions are shaping up to be less haphazard than lastyear when conditions were “downright dysfunctional” after thefinancial crisis forced retailers to clear out goods, RichardHastings, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based consumer strategistfor Global Hunter Securities LLC, said Nov. 27 in an e-mail.

After this weekend, sales may slip into a lull until mid-December when retailers push out more discounts, Hastings said.

“The season has a long way to go,” Hastings said.

To contact the reporters on this story:Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net;Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 1348 or cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 29, 2009 11:58 EST

About 195 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over Black Friday weekend, up from 172 million last year, but average spending dropped to $343.31 per person compared to $372.57, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

The survey, conducted by BIGresearch, estimates that spending for Black Friday through today will reach $41.2 billion nationwide.

The NRF survey comes on the heels on yesterday’s ShopperTrak report, which found that Black Friday spending was down nearly 5 percent in the Northeast, the weakest region in the country.

“Shoppers proved this weekend that they were willing to open their wallets for a bargain, heading out to take advantage of great deals on less expensive items like toys, small appliances and winter clothes,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF President and CEO. “While retailers are encouraged by the number of Americans who shopped over Black Friday weekend, they know they have their work cut out for them to keep people coming back through Christmas. Shoppers can continue to expect retailers to focus on low prices and bargains through the end of December.”

Shoppers’ destination of choice over the past weekend seemed to be department stores, with nearly half (49.4 percent) of holiday shoppers visiting at least one, a 12.9 percent increase from last year.

Discount retailers took an uncharacteristic back seat, with 43.2 percent of holiday shoppers heading to discount stores over the weekend and another 7.8 percent heading to outlet stores.

Shoppers also visited electronics stores (29 percent), clothing stores (22.9 percent), and grocery stores (19.6 percent).

As millions of shoppers gear up for Cyber Monday, one-fourth of Americans shopping over the weekend (28.5 percent) were shopping online.

“In an economy like this one, every retailer wants to be a discounter,” said Mullin. “Department stores have done an admirable job touting both low prices and good quality, which are important requirements for holiday shoppers on a budget.”

According to the survey, nearly one-third (32.2 percent) of shoppers purchased toys, an increase of 12.9 percent from last year. Additionally, more people purchased sporting goods (12.6 percent vs. 11.4 percent last year), personal care or beauty items (22.4 percent vs. 19.0 percent) and gift cards (21.2 percent vs. 18.7 percent).

The most popular purchases were of clothing (50.9 percent) and books (40.3 percent), which remained nearly unchanged over last year.

In order to nab the best holiday items, more shoppers headed out for bargains while it was still dark outside.

According to the survey, nearly one-third of shoppers (31.2 percent) were at the stores by 5 a.m., compared with 23.3 percent who were at stores by that time last year.

“During a more robust economy, people may be inclined to hit the “snooze” button on Black Friday, but high unemployment and a focus on price caused shoppers to visit stores early in anticipation of the best deals,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch.

Early-morning discounts on laptops, TVs and digital cameras lured many shoppers on Black Friday, but the recession kept frugal New Englanders from opening their wallets wide.

Sales on the traditional first day of the holiday season plummeted by nearly 5 percent in the Northeast compared to a year ago, making it the worst region in the nation, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago research firm.

“There’s a new economic reality,” said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “Consumers are being very frugal.”

Nationally, shoppers spent $10.6 billion at the malls on the day after Thanksgiving, 0.5 percent more than last year, according to ShopperTrak, which keeps tabs on sales at more than 50,000 stores.

The West led the way with a 4.7 percent retail sales jump compared to 2008, followed by the Midwest where sales increased by 1.3 percent and the South, where sales rose by 0.6 percent.

But despite a heavy volume of shoppers on Black Friday at many stores and malls, the Northeast played Scrooge with final sales plummeting by 4.9 percent compared to last year, according to ShopperTrak, which declined to release specific regional sales figures.

Hurst said several factors may have contributed to the stunning drop in sales.

He said the regions tech-savvy consumers may be avoiding crowds and early-morning sales in favor of online deals.

The Bay State’s summer increase in the sales tax to 6.25 percent and rising unemployment hasn’t helped either, Hurst added.

Bay State retail sales have been in freefall since the recession began in late 2007. Last year, Massachusetts holiday sales fell 7 percent compared to 2007. The Retailers Association of Massachusetts is predicting another 3 percent drop in retail sales during the holiday season this year.

The National Retail Federation expects a 1 percent decrease for this holiday season across the nation.

Michael Tesler, president of Retail Concepts, said local retailers are doing all they can to boost sales. Many more stores opened at midnight, providing more hours to sell, he said. In addition, stores are more careful with inventory, keeping the numbers down to avoid the need for slashing prices.

Kathleen Seiders, an associate professor of marketing at Boston College, said she did not expect such a giant sales dip on Black Friday.

“I’m shocked,” she said. “It seemed like things were improving. Locally, we are doing better in terms of employment and foreclosures. Maybe the rainy weather kept people home.”

Still, Seiders said sales could improve for the rest of the holiday shopping season. “Perhaps New Englanders are less prone to deals and less likely to jump at the prospect of shopping at 4 a.m.,” she said. “The best retailers can expect this year is for sales to be flat or increase by up to percent at most.”

Alessandra Babucia avoided the Black Friday rush and shopped yesterday at the CambridgeSide Galleria. The 26-year-old MIT graduate student was among those who scooped up a Tom-Tom GPS unit and platform as a gift for her father.

Black Friday Crowds Grab Discounted Flat-Panel TVs, Computers

Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) — Retailers reported “strong”shopper traffic on Black Friday as discounts on televisions,toys and computers drew budget-conscious crowds across the U.S.,the National Retail Federation said.

High-definition TVs, laptops, Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamstersand winter coats were among the most popular items, according tothe federation, a Washington-based trade group. Sales advanced0.5 percent to $10.7 billion, ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based research firm, said yesterday in a statement.

Wal-Mart Stores inc., the world’s largest retailer, drewcrowds with $298 Hewlett-Packard laptop computers and otherspecials that went on sale at 5 a.m. best buy inc., the biggestelectronics chain, used $547.99 42-inch Samsung flat-panel TVsto lure shoppers grappling with the highest unemployment in 26years. the retailer had bigger early-morning crowds than lastyear, Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn said.

“The surprise news is that they are actually buying forthemselves as well, due to pent-up demand and frugal fatigue,”Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group inc. saidin a Bloomberg Television interview Nov. 27. “They are saying‘Let’s loosen up the purse strings a little bit,’ but it isstill cautious spending.” NPD, based in Port Washington, NewYork, is a market research firm.

Holiday Shopping Prediction

The day after U.S. Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday,the traditional beginning of holiday buying. Explanations of thephrase’s origins differ, one holding that it’s the weekend whenretailers go to being in the black, profitable for the year.Stores open early on Black Friday and offer early-bird discountsto attract business.

A 4.9 percent sales decrease in the northeast counteredgains in other regions, according to ShopperTrak. Consumertraffic was heavy throughout the country, the research firm,which plans to release store-visit figures in the next few days.

“We’ve seen a gradual retail sales increase over the lasttwo weeks and with Black Friday’s performance, it looks likeNovember will be a positive month for retailers,” Bill Martin,a ShopperTrak co-founder, said in the statement. “The 1.6percent increase we originally predicted for the holiday seasonremains intact.”

Retailers’ chief marketing officers predicted Black Fridaysales would climb an average 1.8 percent from a year ago attheir own stores, according to a survey conducted by BDO SeidmanLLP in October. Ninety-six of 100 executives said they wouldincrease promotions this year, offering the biggest discounts onconsumer electronics.

Discounts on TVs

“Retailers in all sectors have reported strong crowds,”according to an NRF statement Nov. 27.

Walmart fell 33 cents to $54.63 on Nov. 27 in new YorkStock Exchange composite trading. Richfield, Minnesota-basedBest buy lost 43 cents to $42.83.

There seemed to be more discounts on TVs this year, andshoppers were snapping them up, said Charles O’Shea, a new York-based retail analyst with Moody’s Investors Service. In the fourhours he spent checking retailers in northern new Jersey, he sawseveral shoppers standing at bus stops holding flat-panel sets.

“It looks like everybody has caught the promotional bug,”O’Shea said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

The lines in front of best buy stores were longer and thecompany’s Web site attracted more visitors than in 2008, BestBuy’s Dunn said.

“Those are both directionally important indicators forus,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Samir Patel arrived at noon on Thanksgiving Day with hisbrother and cousin to claim the No. 1 spot in line at best Buyin Jersey City, new Jersey. the 26-year-old, who has beenunemployed since he graduated with a master’s degree in may, waswaiting to buy a Sony Vaio laptop for $399.99 when the storeopened at 5:30 a.m. the next day.

“It’s the best deal for a laptop this year,” he said.”There’s a minimum of 10 in the store.”

Liberty Media Corp.’s QVC shopping channel said it had morethan $32 million in sales Nov. 27, its best-ever Black Friday,and a 60 percent increase from last year. the previous recordwas $22.3 million in November 2006, said Doug Rose, vicepresident of programming and marketing at QVC.

Holiday sales make up a third or more of retailers’ annualprofit. the International Council of Shopping Centers, a tradegroup, predicted sales at stores open at least a year willadvance 1 percent in November and December after a year-earlier5.8 percent decline, the worst in 40 years.

‘More Traffic’

“There’s a little more traffic than last year across theboard, maybe 10 percent,” Bill Taubman, chief operating officerof Taubman Centers inc., a U.S. real estate investment trustwith 24 malls, said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, kept stores openall night so shoppers could grab items when they went on sale at5 a.m. the world’s largest retailer cut some toy prices to $5.

Toys “R” Us, based in Wayne, new Jersey, had an averageof 1,000 people outside its stores before they opened atmidnight, five hours earlier than last year, said Chairman andCEO Jerry Storch. the chains sold a “significant number” ofApple inc. iPods and tens of thousands of Zhu Zhu Pets robothamsters, he said.

“The last thing parents will cut back on is toys for theirkids,” Storch said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

J.C. Penney, Macy’s

Black Friday shopping at J.C. Penney co. stores was strongthroughout the U.S., the Plano, Texas-based retailer said in ane-mailed statement yesterday.

J.C. Penney, which plans to report November sales on Dec.3, fell $1.07 to $29.57 on Nov. 27 on the new York StockExchange.

At the Macy’s inc. store in new York’s Herald Square,shopper traffic appeared greater than a year ago, and continuedto flow in after the initial rush, Macy’s Chairman and CEO TerryLundgren said. Housewares and jewelry were selling “briskly,”he said.

“Last year we were just getting rid of the inventory webought six months before,” Lundgren said. “This year we’ve hada year to think through what is the sales trend.”

Macy’s, based in Cincinnati, dropped 59 cents to $16.97 onNov. 27 on the new York Stock Exchange.

Promotions are shaping up to be less haphazard than lastyear when conditions were “downright dysfunctional” after thefinancial crisis forced retailers to clear out goods, RichardHastings, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based consumer strategistfor Global Hunter Securities LLC, said Nov. 27 in an e-mail.

After this weekend, sales may slip into a lull until mid-December when retailers push out more discounts, Hastings said.

“The season has a long way to go,” Hastings said.

To contact the reporters on this story:Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net;Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 1348 or cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 29, 2009 00:00 EST