Black Friday effect: Weekend sees rise in shoppers
More shoppers hit stores, but spend less each
Shoppers fill streets if not their bags
Shopping’s up, spending’s down
This is a sampling of headlines from reports on Black Friday consumer shopping activity (USA Today, NYT, WSJ and Washington Post). Just from the headlines, you get the idea. As anticipated, there were lots of people out shopping over the weekend - NRF estimates 195 million people shopped in stores or online during the four day weekend up from 172 million last year.
But, they were spending less than last year. Consumers spent an average of around $343 this year vs. $373 a year ago. Total spending was on par with last year at $41.2 billion.
What were they buying? Well at Walmart.com, one of the biggest sellers was the  Bissell Steam Mop Hard Floor Cleaner, indicating that this may well be the year of practical gifts. Consumer electronics, especially flat screen TVs, digital cameras, e-readers and game consoles were also big sellers.
If this news seems anti-climactic, take heart in the fact that the forecasting models predicted this behavior. Â Expectations are set, and consumers are generally incredibly predictable. Short of money falling from the sky, we’re probably not going to have any surprises this holiday shopping season.
Makes one wonder if the notion of pent-up demand is a thing of the past, or if we’re going to see a post-holiday spending spree? President’s Day shopping forecasts anyone?  Â

