Black Friday: Retailers Aren’t Convinced This Year Was A Total Success

Although more people decided to turn out for this year’s Black Friday sales, many retailers expressed concerned over starting the event on Thanksgiving Day, according to CNN.

ShopperTrak explained that, while foot traffic in a number of the nation’s largest retailers was up a bit from last year, overall sales were down 1.8 percent. The decrease in Black Friday sales may have something to do with the number of offers being extended to consumers on Thursday.

“While foot traffic did increase on Friday, those Thursday deals attracted some of the spending that’s usually meant for Friday,” ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said in a statement.

He added, “Black Friday shopping continues to expand into Thanksgiving Day and will impact the way we look at all of the ‘Black’ weekend results, since more shopping hours allows for more shopping visits and a smoothing of sales across all of the days.”

While Black Friday sales were down a bit from last year, many analysts believe that retailers who decided to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day experienced an increase in sales. Chances are other stores and shops will begin offering deals on Thursday to combat those made by competitors.

“By opening even earlier, the retailers have been able to attract a broader spectrum of consumers to participate in Black Friday — not everyone is willing to wake up at 4 am,” an analyst for NPD Group said. “They definitely got a lot more business early and upfront.”

The large number of online transactions may be another reason brick-and-mortar stores experienced a decrease in Black Friday sales. According to Reuters, online retailers enjoyed $1 billion in sales on the busiest shopping day of the year. This number is up from $816 million in 2011.

Do you think this year’s Black Friday was a success? Do you think more retailers will begin offering deals on Thanksgiving Day?