Store Sales Drop As More Holiday Shoppers Look For Online Bargains
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Black Friday drew plenty of shoppers, but maybe not as many as in recent years as more people looked for bargains online.
Brick and mortar stores saw a drop in sales on Black Friday, but online sales were up more than 14 percent with online shopping on Thanksgiving Day up 25 percent over last year. All of this before what is said to be the largest online shopping day of the year.
Cyber Monday is expected to draw an estimated $3-billion in online sales. That's on top of more than $1.7-billion spent online on Thanksgiving Day and 2.7-billion on Black Friday, representing an uptick in the double digits for online shopping on both days.
LEGOs and Star Wars items were a large draw, but electronics were by far the biggest attraction for shoppers.
"This year, you are seeing more electronics advertised on Thursday night," says Britt Beemer, CEO of America's Research Group, "and fewer advertised on Friday."
Beemer says much of the increase came from Walmart, offering deep discounts online starting Thanksgiving morning in and effort to compete with online retailer Amazon, which is offering deals all week.
He says retailers are willing to take a hit now -- hoping for repeat visits before the season ends.
"If I walk into a store and buy something over on Thursday and Friday," Beemer says, "there's a 70 percent chance I'll come back and buy two or three things during the season."
The most popular big ticket items have been iPhones, tablets, gaming consoles and televisions.
For Cyber Monday, deals on clothing and beauty items are expected to attract shoppers.
Cyber Monday deals are expected to begin as early as Sunday night.
