Black Friday 2011 Sales: Best Buy the Winner
The Black Friday bonanza is over and it appears that Best Buy is the clear winner in regards to drawing in customers with the best deals available.
Reuters reported that U.S. retailers made an astonishing $52.4 billion this Thanksgiving weekend, which is a 16.4 percent increase from last year.
Despite this increase, The National Retail Federation estimated overall sales for the holiday season to go down from last year. Last year during this time period sales were up 5.2 percent while this year it's projected to be 2.8.
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Best Buy opened their stores at midnight this year and focused its promotions on big TV's and popular items instead of 3D TV's like last year resulting in subpar sales.
"Last year, they weren't as responsive with their pricing as they needed to be. We are seeing a different set of behaviors from them this time around," said portfolio manager at Federated Clover Investment Advisors Lawrence Creatura to Reuters.
"Consumers have finite cash. If you can be the retailer who gets that cash first, you are likely to be more successful in the holiday selling season," he continued.
Reuters reported from a survey by BIGresearch that 226 million shoppers from Thursday to Sunday, a record, shopped online which is 14 million more than last year.
"One swallow does not a holiday season make. After the deepest recession in decades, the solid Black Friday weekend is welcome news, but we're only in the second quarter of a long playoff game," said the president of consulting firm Customer Growth Partners, Craig Johnson.
While Best Buy remained on top, stores like Macy's and Wal-Mart also faired well over the weekend, but Credit Suisse, Gary Balter attributes the electronics heavy weight success to, "locking in compelling exclusive deals, better than Amazon's, and having unique in-store-only offers forcing the visit."
