Black Friday Sales: Consumers Buying Computers, TVs and Winter Coats
The National Retail Federation says that retail sales figures are good for Black Friday sales. Customers appeared to be very value-focused, snapping up great deals on laptops, notebooks, big screen TVs and winter coats.
No one seemed to be doing much holiday shopping, other than parents who were buying toys for children. Everyone else was looking for deals for non-holiday purchases. Bloomberg reports:
High-definition TVs, laptops, Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamsters and winter coats were among the most popular items, according to the federation, a Washington-based trade group. Sales probably met or exceeded retailers' projections, David Schick, a Baltimore-based analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co., wrote in a note to investors after store visits and conversations with employees.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, drew crowds with $298 Hewlett-Packard laptop computers and other specials that went on sale at 5 a.m. Best Buy Inc., the biggest electronics chain, used $547.99 42-inch Samsung flat-panel TVs to lure shoppers grappling with the highest unemployment in 26 years. The retailer had bigger early-morning crowds than last year, Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn said.
"The surprise news is that they are actually buying for themselves as well, due to pent-up demand and frugal fatigue," Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group Inc. said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday. "They are saying 'Let's loosen up the purse strings a little bit,' but it is still cautious spending." NPD, based in Port Washington, New York, is a market research firm.
These results make sense. Many families have been putting of purchases such as computers for work or school, but when the prices came down smart consumers snapped them up. Look for more electronics deals on Cyber Monday.
