Black Friday Stayed Out of the Red

Last week I questioned whether Black Friday would be a slower-than-usual sale day for the holidays. In looking at the results, it seems it wasn’t slower. According to Business Week, Black Friday retail sales were $10.6 billion, a 3% growth from last year.

The interesting thing is: retailers may not be making any money, in spite of that number. Everyone has been desperately slashing prices in an effort to close the year out with some sales (better than none), so now profits are so tight they squeak, and the only ones that are happy are consumers (go us!).

From what the article said, I gather that people are buying more pragmatic gifts this year. 54.7% of shoppers bought clothes. So while we’re still spending money, we’re staying away from over-the-top extravagant purchases and leaning toward more useful gifts.

Sales continue today on what they’ve dubbed Cyber Monday. Now that shoppers have eked out all the savings from Black Friday, they’re looking for great deals online. This is a smart way for brick-and-mortar retailers to get a little more out of shoppers now that they’re done with the physical store.

I’m thrilled I got a Leapster for my son (regularly $49.99) for $29.98. Shopping in your pjs rocks.