The official kick off to the holiday shopping season for many is Black Friday. Typically, Black Friday is associated with hoards of shoppers filling up retail stores looking for deals on all sorts of items. Black Friday also sees some significant online spending as well.
Computerworld reports that Amazon grabbed more traffic than any other site on Black Friday. ComScore reports that Amazon was the clear winner on Black Friday with 25% more visitors to its site than the same day in 2009. Walmart, Target, and Best Buy all saw heavy traffic on Black Friday with more than 4 million unique visitors each. Target only had a 9% increase in visitors, Best Buy had a 1% increase, and Walmart increased 1% all compared to 2009.
Online shoppers spent a grand total of $648 million in the U.S. making Black Friday the heaviest online shopping day of 2010 (so far). That number is 9% higher than the amount shoppers spent online on Black Friday 2009.
“Although Black Friday is known for the flurry of activity occurring in brick-and-mortar retail stores, online shopping is increasingly becoming the refuge of those preferring to avoid the crowds and long lines,” said Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman, in a statement. “Interestingly, we are also seeing consumers beginning to buy online in a more meaningful way on Thanksgiving Day, which has historically seen low buying activity.”
Overall holiday spending is expected to be up 11% compared to 2009. The nation was in the grips of a very bad economy in 2009 so it’s no surprise that holiday shopping is more robust in 2010.