After enjoying some Thanksgiving turkey yesterday, some of you will be burning off those calories for another tradition this time of year…Black Friday, traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year that also kicks off the holiday shopping season.
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 for those months last year. That excludes car sales, gas and restaurant receipts but includes online spending and other non-store sales like catalog spending. The group estimates that non-store sales should rise 7 to 10 percent.
According to a NRF survey, around 137 million people plan to or are considering doing their shopping during the three day Thanksgiving weekend. That’s up from the 74.2 million that shopped on Black Friday in 2015, which officials reported was the lowest level of Black Friday participation since 2011 when 87 million shoppers took advantage of early holiday shopping on Black Friday.
The NRF indicates Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, vies with the Saturday before Christmas as the busiest shopping day of the year.