Trend shows Black Friday losing sales, shoppers to Black Thursday

Miller said she plans far in advance by looking through advertisements and making note of things she wants to purchase.

“It’s better than coming in the store”.

“When you walk in, we know your name and you don’t get that by shopping online”, said owner Ken Giddon.

At one Wal-Mart, Tonjua Calhoun said she wished the sales started after Thanksgiving.

“I looked at some online deals on J.C. Penney which were good”. Though the retailer was later than some competitors to this game, the result was a strong start to the Thanksgiving weekend, in which retailers get 15% of their holiday season sales. During the two-day sale nearly all items online and in stores will be 15 percent off. Many shop that day more out of tradition than a search for savings. Black Friday is supposed to see more than $3 billion in online sales as well, an 11 percent increase over a year ago. “Thanksgiving is quickly becoming one of the busiest mobile shopping days on Amazon in the United States”, the company said in an email update this morning. Walmart has made major investments in its app recently, and the retailer chose to offer certain deals exclusively via app for the first time ever this year.

“It was a really good start”.

Best Buy in Vestal was open on Thanksgiving day before closing at 1 a.m. then re-opening at 8 a.m.

Lee Outlets management says they have extended hours all weekend long so shoppers have time to still get door buster deals.

The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail group, expects holiday sales to rise 3.6 percent for November and December, better than the 3 percent growth seen for those months previous year. Online stores will roll out their great deals at specific times on a first-come-first-serve basis, and the best items will usually be gone in a matter of seconds.

NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said since the holiday shopping fell in with a major election this year, consumers will be more conservative with their spending.

Shoppers also appreciate the scope of the sales.

While some stores opened early Friday morning, the annual retail mega-event began in many stores on Thanksgiving evening and will continue well into Friday.

Macy’s has been offering exclusive deals for its app users.

“Probably 70 percent of our stuff is online”, said shopper Mark Foggiato.

In a tweet Friday, Marshal Cohen, longtime retail analyst for the NPD Group, dubbed it, “The calmest Black Friday in 40 years”. Only stores with exterior entrances were able to open on Thanksgiving Day. “Our customers were particularly excited about the new technologies we offered this year. This comes after EBay Inc. made a plea for consumers to start shopping on their phones that day by christening the event “Mobile Wednesday.”

Last year, customers ordered 54 million items worldwide. Singewald said she was merely the vehicle – “and sometimes the credit card” – as her daughters hunted for deals and worked on their shopping lists.

“I couldn’t believe I did it”, she said.