This past Friday will go down in the record books as another heavy spending day this holiday season. Consumers spent a total of $1.07 billion on December 16th, otherwise known as “Free Shipping Day,” which was more than consumers spent during the entirety of the Thanksgiving weekend ($1.03 billion) and 14% more than consumers spent on the same day in 2010. Shoppers spent the most money on Cyber Monday so far this holiday season ($1.25 billion) followed by Green Monday ($1.13 billion) and Free Ship...

U.S. consumers have spent close to $25 billion so far this holiday season, up 15% from the same period last year, according to a new report from comScore. The research group studied holiday shopping trends beginning in November and found that $479 million was spent on Thanksgiving Day, $816 million was spent on Black Friday, $886 million was spent during Thanksgiving weekend and a record $1.25 billion was spent on Cyber Monday. That wasn’t the only record broken this year, however. “Monday, Decemb...

Online spending during the week ending on December 2nd totalled nearly $6 billion according to comScore, setting a new single-week record. The market research firm on Sunday released its estimates for online spending so far during the holiday shopping season, and it is reporting significant year-on-year increases across the board. Total spending between November 1st and December 2nd is up 15% over 2010 to $18.7 billion and Cyber Week spending also grew 15% to approximately $6 billion. Online shopping on Thank...

Nintendo announced earlier this week that the company kicked off the holiday shopping season with a bang, having seen record-setting sales of its Wii and multiple game titles. Nintendo sold more than 500,000 Wii consoles on Black Friday 2011 alone, making it the console’s biggest Black Friday ever. The company’s newest addition to the Zelda franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, sold 535,000 copies since launching on November 20th to become the fastest-selling Zelda game of all time. Super...

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that last week marked the Xbox 360′s best ever week of sales. The company sold more than 960,000 Xbox 360 consoles and more than 750,000 Kinect controllers last week. Microsoft also confirmed that more than 800,000 of the consoles it sold last week were purchased on Black Friday alone. ”We have seen tremendous excitement from customers for our hot holiday gaming offers,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of Home Entertainment at B...

Early reports from three separate firms suggest that Black Friday retail sales set a new record in 2011. Online sales growth was massive according to estimates from both IBM and comScore; the former reported on Saturday that online Black Friday sales grew 24.3% over 2010 and total Black Friday spending rose 39.3% over last year. Meanwhile, comScore’s data shows that online spending this past Friday grew 26% from Black Friday 2010 to $816 million. Offline, market research firm ShopperTrak said retail foo...

Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet has been a big seller for the online retailer so far, maintaining the top spot on the Amazon.com best-sellers list for eight weeks running. Despite the slate’s already low price tag, at least two retailers are offering deep discounts on the new tablet at a number of physical locations. Both Walmart and Target have been selling the Kindle Fire for just $123 over the holiday weekend, and some stores may have extended the sale pricing into Monday. Several forum users on Sl...

Strong demand for Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet and the continued popularity of Kindle eReaders lead to the retail giant’s best-ever Black Friday for the Kindle family of products. Amazon on Monday announced that sales of Kindle devices on Black Friday quadrupled last year’s sales, setting a new record. The company neglected to report sales figures, however it did say it sold millions of new Kindle eReaders and Kindle Fire tablets combined before the Black Friday shopping weekend began. &...

Brick and mortar shopaholics have so few places to turn for an adrenaline rush these days thanks to the advent of online shopping, but Black Friday always promises to be a battle that tests even the most seasoned shopper’s will. Anxious consumers line up early outside their retailers of choice and prepare to push, shove, crawl and even trample their way to some of the deepest discounts of the year. It’s no holds barred and things are bound to get dirty, but those who plan to work off their Thanksg...

Details surrounding Apple’s Black Friday sale have reportedly been revealed and as has been the case in the past, the discounts afforded are minimal. 9to5Mac on Wednesday published what appear to be images of a pamphlet outlining all of the deals Apple has in store this coming Friday, November 25th. Sale items this year include the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac, all available for $101 off retail pricing. Discounts on Apple’s iPad 2 will range from $41 for the less expensive models to $61 for t...

What are consumers planning to buy on Black Friday? Computers and tablets, according to data compiled by Mashwork, which gathered data from thousands of Twitter users. 18% of consumers discussed buying computers and tablets, 17% want to buy DVDs, music and video games, 16% are most interested in shoes, 14% will buy clothes, 12% want to buy a new television and 9% are planning to purchase a new cell phone or camera. The remaining 14% are planning to purchase items outside of those categories. The most talked a...

Research In Motion’s debut tablet hasn’t bowled people over like the company had hoped, and now it is pushing a huge sale in hopes of drumming up interest during the holiday shopping season. For a limited time through participating retailers, RIM is offering its BlackBerry PlayBook slate for $300 below MSRP, representing savings of up to 60%. Sale pricing comes in at $199.99 for the 16GB model, $299 for the 32GB version and $399 for the 64GB model, and participating retailers include Best Buy, Wal...

Apple recently announced that it will hold its own one-day Black Friday sale this Friday, November 25th, during which it will offer “amazing iPad, iPod, and Mac gifts for everyone on your list.” It remains unclear how much Apple will knock off of its standard prices but, if your kids are among those who have the iPad at the top of their list this holiday season, this might be a sale you’ll want to take advantage of. Apple’s past Black Friday sales have offered minimal discounts, howeve...

There is no need to wait until Black Friday or Cyber Monday to get a new smartphone at a great price. Amazon is now offering every smartphone it carries for AT&T, Verizon or Sprint for as low as $0.01 with a new contract. To be clear, you’ll need to sign up for a new line or be a new customer with one of the carriers, otherwise you’ll pay standard upgrade pricing. The promotion includes most new high-end smartphone models such as the DROID RAZR, the Galaxy S II, the HTC Rezound 4G, the Samsung...