Most Overhyped Black Friday In History A Dud? ShopperTrak Reports Just 0.3%

[Joanne98]

The shopping day that was supposed to signal the renaissance of the US consumer, and justify the massive overhiring by US retailers (not to mention the completely dislocated from reality surge in stock price for razor thin margin retailers like Amazon), is increasingly seeming to be a dud. WSJ reports, citing channel checker ShopperTrak, that "Black Friday sales rose only slightly from a year ago even though more shoppers visited stores, retail traffic monitor ShopperTrak said Saturday, setting the stage for another uncertain holiday season for retailers. Sales increased 0.3% to $10.7 billion, according to ShopperTrak, which installs monitoring devices in stores to gauge traffic. Traffic rose by 2.2%, ShopperTrak said." For the observant ones out there, this is in nominal terms: adjusted for inflation there was actually a drop in end sales. Even so, the primary reason for the disappointment is that Black Friday actually started early on in the month, with most retailers offering comparable loss-leading deals such as those seen on the Friday after the national holiday early in November, reducing the actual purchasing power for the all important day. "The smaller than expected increase is due in part to discounts offered earlier in November as well as online-only promotions, ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said. Traffic to stores was up over 6% for the first two weeks of November, an early boost that could affect retailers' performance in the coming weeks, he said." Last but not least it should also be noted that with millions of Americans living mortgage payment free for over 18 months now, and using money that should be going to banks (and nationalized GSEs) to instead purchase shoe closet 32 inch TVs, that sooner or later the bulk of American taxpayers who funded yet another top line (but certainly not margin) bonanza for the nation's retailers may soon say enough, and vote against further subsidies of zombie companies whose existence allows for continued US consumer "strength."

More from the WSJ:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/most-overhyped-black-friday-history-dud-shoppertrak-reports-just-03-increase-black-friday-sa

[xchrom]

1. the commentary is going to be interesting. nt

[HillbillyBob]

2. We did not even leave the house. no budget

and we very rarely use either of the credit cards.

[madrchsod]

3. 0 from my family....

using qvc for any new items and the rest will be thrift store recycled stuff.

[Mz Pip]

4. At least no one

was trampled to death this year. I consider that to be an improvement.

[Skink]

5. this year you could factor in increased sales starting after Halloween..

since a lot of the discounting started then.

[Crazy Dave]

6. Most normal people would consider 0.3% flat

And like the article stated, I've been seeing "Early Black Friday Sale!!!" for weeks now right after Halloween.

That and just about everything that everyone waited and camped outside the store for was already available online cheaper with free delivery.

[earth mom]

7. What did they expect when the country is in going through a Depression-not a Recession?

Amazing how the powers that be have the audacity to continue to prop up the lie that nothing has changed. :grr:

[Crazy Dave]

8. Lies and a new form of "fuzzy math"

As I stated before, 0.3% is not growth and compared to the population growth in the past three years it is really a loss.

But we're being told that the historic, record profits that almost all large corporations made this last quarter without adding jobs is a great thing for the country.

Obama and the current democratic majority for the past two years have been great capitalists. If you doubt it just wait until the tax cuts for the rich get extended and unemployment benefits get canceled under what is still the current democratic majority. The new congress doesn't get seated until next year.