Black Friday Ended Up Being Kind of Gray

Many opened at midnight, some at 4 and 5 a.m., but was all the effort worth it for retailers on Black Friday 2009? Maybe. Bricks-and-mortar stores saw only a slight increase of 0.5 percent, spending $10.66 billion this year versus $10.606 billion last year, according to shopper tracking firm ShopperTrak, in Chicago.

And they're not done buying yet. Cyber Monday will be the next indicator—and it could be more important and valuable than Black Friday, as many of those who went browsing over the Thanksgiving weekend are expected to place online orders for products today.

“Retailers rose to the challenge of enticing shoppers on Black Friday in a tough economy this year. They advertised a number of different incentives prior to Thanksgiving weekend, including aggressive pricing, free shipping and free accessories with a purchase,” said Laura Conrad, president of Los Angeles-California based, PriceGrabber.com. “These significant category increases show how these extra incentives captured the attention of our savvy shoppers.”

The most popular gifts included Wii consoles, the Apple iPod touch, GPS systems from nuvi and digital cameras. Electronics sellers offered discounts ranging from 12 percent to 50 percent for select items.

It was online stores that really saw a boost in their bottom line, says market research firm Coremetrics. Apparel retailers led the way, posting the healthiest dollar spent up-tick with a rise of 28.6 percent in sales over last year. Overall, the sector saw a 35 percent average dollar increase with consumers buying 18.3 percent more items.

Department stores attracted 151.7 percent more shoppers to their sites than they did last year, but consumers spent an average of 7.2 percent less money, suggesting that they are waiting for deeper discounts to hit before December 25^th.

And jewelers also surprised, showing a 25 percent increase—a boost that was not visible in traditional stores. “Jewelry is a huge gift for Christmas, but we usually see the big rush come not on Black Friday, but two weeks before Christmas.” says Ruben Ghatan, owner of The Goldsmith at Chestnut Hill, right outside Boston. “Black Friday shoppers are looking for bargains, and that, for the most part, is not something you find in precious stones and gold."