"What we heard going into the season was that everything was down, way down," said Aaron Martin, a ShopperTrak spokesman. "So I think [Black Friday] was kind of a welcome surprise for retailers."
A BDO survey of 100 chief marketing officers at major retailers conducted before Black Friday predicted sales would increase 1.2 percent this year. Vaughn said yesterday that sales came in at a higher 2.8 percent to 3 percent increase Friday.
Online sales rose 2 percent on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, according to preliminary figures released by comScore Inc. But the group said online holiday spending so far this year has declined 4 percent from 2007.
Retailers discounted heavily for the weekend, with some such as J.C. Penney offering their best Black Friday bargains in history. Shoppers responded by crowding stores that opened as early as midnight.
But the bargains retailers offered Thanksgiving weekend aren't expected to be as steep in coming weeks, leaving some to wonder if retailers will be able to pull as many consumers into their stores.
Traffic had already started to decline as the weekend progressed. About 73.6 million people shopped Friday, while 56.9 million shopped Saturday and just 26.2 million were expected to shop yesterday, according to NRF.
Shoppers have said they don't plan to spend as much this holiday season as rising food and utility bills and falling housing values and stock portfolios have put pressures on their household budgets. Major retailers reported weak October sales, and many said they expected similar results through the end of the year.
NRF expects the holiday season, when most retailers ring up the bulk of their sales, will be the worst since 2002, with business increasing just 2.2 percent, well below the 10-year average increase of 4.4 percent. Others predict that sales could decline for the season.
Thanksgiving weekend isn't necessarily the biggest shopping span of the season anymore, but it can set the tone for the season.
"This year it was absolutely crucial to get off to a good start in order to give the industry a little breathing room," said Scott Krugman, an NRF spokesman.
America's Research Group, which tracks consumer spending, found that fewer people shopped after the early-bird specials Friday. The company's 14 researchers that scoured seven to 11 stores each also found that people were carrying fewer bags than last year. There was less impulse buying, said Britt Beemer, the company's founder.
