Black Friday sales up on discounts

Wal-Mart reports lower numbers, but other retailers got a boost

By Jennifer Netherby and Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 11/27/2006

NOV. 27 | Discounts on flat-screen TVs, DVDs and videogame consoles helped draw consumers into stores and drive up sales on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, as consumers kicked off their holiday shopping sprees.

Consumers spent $8.96 billion at mall-based stores on Nov. 24, up 6% from the previous year, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp.

However, disappointing sales at Wal-Mart raised concerns about overall holiday spending.

Wal-Mart, which earlier this month said it would offer its most aggressive holiday discounts, said Saturday that November same-store sales were down 0.1%. The news dragged Wal-Mart’s stock down 2.6% Monday along with other retailer stocks.

Rival Target, meanwhile, is projecting a 4% to 7% climb in same-store sales for the month, and other video retailers reported sales bumps Friday compared to the previous year.

DVDs, music and books tied as the most popular purchase alongside clothing and accessories on Friday, according to a National Retail Federation survey. About 41.4% of purchases were made in each category. The third most-popular category was consumer electronics, accounting for 33.3% of consumer purchases.

Large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy seemed to dominate newspaper circulars, but drug chain Walgreens competed with longer sale periods. This year, Walgreens offered eight-hour deals for the first time, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. In years past, Walgreens has supported five-hour and six-hour deals.

That is in contrast to Best Buy, whose rock bottom prices, including a $2.99 DVD sale, were good only from 5 a.m. to noon Friday. Best Buy has offered a Black Friday seven-hour promotion for the last couple of years.

“I think there are a lot of shoppers out there that day, and we want to attract some of those people into our store,” Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzine said. “Maybe it’s not the first store [customers] hit that morning, but they could come to us after those other early stops.”

Walgreens offered deals on toys, food and a portable DVD player, among other items.

Best Buy introduced its own twist on Black Friday by announcing its deals a few days prior to Thanksgiving Day circulars via its Web site.

“This was to give people a jump start on planning their Black Friday,” Best Buy spokesman Justin Barber said.

Barber declined to rates sales performance on certain chain products, but hot Black Friday categories included notebook computers and gaming.

Video Buyers Group reported a 3% uptick in rental and sell-through revenue for its rentailing members. The Group typically uses Black Friday to kick off its seasonal gift basket, where store managers bundle a movie, candy and DVD coupons into a popcorn bucket.

The rush of early bird sales, such as the ones at Best Buy, also likely spurred rentals, believes VBG president Ted Engen.

Shoppers “got tired, and they just wanted to go home and put their feet up and watch a movie,” Engen said.

Similarly, Newbury Comics recorded a 3% rise in sales during the entire week ended Sunday, Nov. 26., compared to the same frame in 2005. Newbury was especially boosted by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s volume four release of Family Guy.