The survey says 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites this weekend - up 15 million from last year, and the average shopper spent more than $372, up 7.2 percent from a year ago...This sounds good on the surface, however record sales do not equal record profits. Retailers had to make deep discounts to draw in customers this year, more than the usual early morning "door buster" sales. This year every store had a sale, even high-end brands like Burberry that usually never participate in such sales. The result of this is that many retailers will have to sell even more this year to turn a profit.
The National Retail Federation reports Americans spent $41 billion over the Thanksgiving holiday, a whopping 18 percent increase over 2007.
"I think there was some pent-up demand from the last month or two," says Robert Guerra of the Simon Property Group.
Guerra, a manager for the largest mall company in America, believes sales are up because of deep discounts.
What does this mean to you? For many stores, this holiday season will be their last hurrah, after the holiday they will most likely fold. Because of this shoppers should beware of the gift card. Recipients of gift cards may hold on to them for at least a year. There are many retailers that may not survive that long after January 1st.
This year give cash, give food items, or if you really can't decide, nothing at all...a warm hug and your company is probably better anyway.
