Local shoppers happy with Black Friday bargains

With Thanksgiving Day sales added in, consumer online spending was expected to approach $5 Billion, an 11.4 per cent increase over 2015, Adobe said.

The infamous “Black Friday” sale continues its tradition this Friday as shopping centers in cities all over the country mark down their prices with millions of consumers ready to take advantage of the great sale on many choice items.

Merchant says she’ll back next year, along with die hard Black Friday shoppers like Vanessa Henson who comes year after year.

“Early morning Black Friday shopping is off to a strong start”, Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst and director of Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement.

Northeast Florida shoppers are still packing stores across town for those Black Friday deals.

Despite early numbers, mall officials say they expect to see 75,000 shoppers this weekend. The technology company is forecasting that online spending will hit $3 billion, up 11%, surpassing the $3 billion for the first time.

United States online sales surged on Black Friday, with Amazon.com Inc offering the steepest discounts among e-commerce sites as it set the agenda for what has traditionally been the biggest shopping day of the year for brick-and-mortar retailers.

“That’s why I so aggressively pushed to have it done in October”, he said. Adobe Marketing Cloud is used for online transactions by a large number of online retailers.

Many malls and retail outlets in and around the city held Black Friday sales and shoppers were out searching for deals despite the slow economy.

Stores that kept their doors shut on Thanksgiving Day, some for the first time in several years, are banking on record Black Friday sales.

Some stores at Arden Fair were not open despite the mall’s extended hours.

The holiday season spanning November and December is crucial for retailers because it can account for as much as 40 per cent of annual sales.

About three-quarters of people’s purchasing power – $214.13 – went toward buying gifts.

Online spending in the United States climbed to more than $1 billion by Thanksgiving evening, a surge of 14 per cent from past year. As Fortune reported, Target and, both direct rivals to Macy’s, each reported record online sales on Thanksgiving.