Despite the massive discounts offered by retailers, sales for Black Friday weekend declined compared to last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Shopper traffic in stores from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday fell 5.2%.
Consumers also spent 10.2% less online during Black Friday weekend.
The retail association cited early holiday promotions, the continued growth of online shopping and an improving economy that makes shoppers less reliant on deep discounts as reasons.
Though many national chains opened on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday still drew the biggest crowds, with an estimated 86.9 million shoppers visiting stores or shopping online that day, the NRF said.
Today is Cyber Monday, and the National Retail Federation predicts that fewer shoppers will make purchases this year.
The trade group said that 126.9 million people are expected to take advantage of special deals today, down from 131.6 million last year.
NRF President Matthew Shay said consumers are savvy and know it won’t be the last chance to find deals before the holidays.
Several industry brands and retailers offered special Black Friday deals, some of which were extended into the weekend, and many are also offering Cyber Monday specials.
Here is a sampling:
Quiksilver, Roxy and DC are offering buy one, get one free with items of equal or lesser value site-wide today. This excludes full price snow and wetsuits.
Billabong is offering 30% off site-wide today, including wetsuits.
Hurley is offering discounts based on how much is spent – spend $100, save 15%, spend $200, save 25%, spend $300, save 35%. This excludes Phantom JJF boardshorts, Phantom Create boardshorts and all regularly priced wetsuits. The site is also offering 40% off of clearance goods.
Volcom is offering a Blue Ray version of the “True to This” movie with $99 purchase.
Reef is offering 30% off site-wide.
O’Neill Clothing extended its Black Friday promotion of 30% off site-wide for Cyber Monday.
RVCA is offering a RVCA gift card of $20 with purchases over $100.
Element is offering 30% to 50% off select goods.
Etnies is offering 25% off on purchases above $50. It is also offering buy one, get one free on boots in its winter shoe collection.
Vestal also extended its Black Friday weekend promotion of 25% off all products to Cyber Monday.
Rip Curl is offering a free towel with purchase of a full wetsuit today.
Von Zipper is offering a free hat or T-shirt on orders of $50 or more.
Osiris was still promoting its Black Friday deal of 40% off everything site-wide.
Industry retailers
PacSun continued its deep discounts for Cyber Monday, offering 30% to 50% off site-wide. A small number of brands were excluded from the sale.
Zumiez is offering buy one, get one free and buy one, get one 50% off on select items.
Tilly’s is offering buy one, get one 50% off for a wide range of goods.
Swell.com is offering 33% off site-wide for Cyber Monday.
Reason for optimism
While Black Friday weekend did not live up to last year’s performance, it is important to look at the whole picture, wrote Marshal Cohen, NPD Chief Industry Analyst.
He said looking at sales from Thursday through Sunday only is misleading because of the deals retailers unleashed in the earlier part of Thanksgiving week.
Cohen believes many shoppers were making purchases for themselves this weekend, and that a lot shopping for gifts is still to come. An estimated 80% of shopping typically takes place after Black Friday, he said.
“Consumers are feeling pretty confident these days, and retailers are showing a willingness to offer up discounts to lure the consumer in,” Cohen said. “That is a powerful combination that could result in a healthy finish for the retail industry in 2014.”
