Black Friday sales hit record, preliminary reports say

Black Friday may have reaped big benefits for major retailers across America. Preliminary reports show that sales hit an all-time record on the famous shopping day, reported CNN Money. Retail sales are estimated at $11.4 billion.

Bloomberg News reported that sales increased 6.6 percent from Black Friday sales in 2010. Foot traffic also increased 5.1 percent. The Los Angeles Times added that it was the biggest year-over-year bump since 2007, when there was an 8.3 percent surge.

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This year's increase was in sharp contrast to last year's increase of only .3 percent from sales in 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported. Retailers this year satisfied Americans' pent-up demand by opening stores earlier, offering blowout deals, and making a stronger push toward online sales.

According to IBM, which tracks sales at 500 online retailers, online shopping was up 24.3 percent from last year on Black Friday, reported the Washington Post. 

Bill Martin, founder of ShopperTrak, the company that tracks Black Friday sales, said in an interview:

I’m pleased to see it. You can’t have a great season without having a good Black Friday. The real test is if the momentum carries on through the holiday season.

The Associated Press reported that Thanksgiving weekend last year accounted for 12.1 percent of all the holiday shopping, and Black Friday accounted for about half of that.

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