Hasta La Creative!

With Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Sofa Sunday, and Cyber Mondays I and II behind us, several shopping trends are certain so far: Still financially shaky consumers continue to seek deals and more are using mobile devices to research and buy merchandise at the lowest prices, whether it be electronics, apparel or toys. That makes it all the more imperative for retailers to entice shoppers across all buying channels through Dec. 24 in order to grab a bigger share of what’s left of holiday budgets.

Traffic over Black Friday weekend rose to 141 million shoppers versus 139 million a year ago, according to the National Retail Federation. However, overall spending dropped 3.9% to $407.02 per person from $423.55 last year, partially due to lower prices. That was the first time in four years the NRF saw a per-person spending decrease.

As another reason for the drop in per-person spending, Bill Thorne, senior VP-communications and public affairs at the NRF, pointed to the fact that 53% of consumers said they started holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, in part due to the lateness of the holiday this year. That, and the fact that more retailers opened on Thanksgiving itself, helped explain why some retailers said Black Friday traffic was lighter than usual, even though the NRF said Black Friday had a 3.4% increase in shoppers year over year.

Continue reading at AdAge.com