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 Shipping Day.

“More than $1 billion in spending on Free Shipping Day put the exclamation point on what will almost certainly be the heaviest week of the online holiday shopping season,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said. “Four individual days surpassed $1 billion in spending this week, with Green Monday leading the way at $1.13 billion. While next week may see another strong day or two at the beginning of the week, it’s clear that we have now reached the crescendo for this season and that spending will begin to slow as we get closer to Christmas, leaving Cyber Monday as the top ranked shopping day for the second year in a row.” ComScore’s press release follows below.

Free Shipping Day Punctuates Heavy Week of Online Holiday Shopping as Four Individual Days Eclipse $1 Billion in Spending and Season-to-Date Exceeds $30 Billion

Cyber Monday on Pace to be Heaviest Day of the Online Shopping Season for Second Consecutive Year

RESTON, VA, December 18, 2011 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 46 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $30.9 billion has been spent online, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent work week (Dec. 12-16) saw four individual days surpass $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday (Monday, December 12) with $1.13 billion and Free Shipping Day (Friday, December 16) with $1.07 billion. With the heaviest portion of the season behind us, Cyber Monday appears likely to rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year for the second consecutive season.

2011 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Millions ($)
	2010	2011	Percent Change
November 1 – December 16	$26,914	$30,937	15%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24)	$407	$479	18%
Black Friday (Nov. 25)	$648	$816	26%
Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 26-27)	$886	$1,031	16%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 28)	$1,028	$1,251	22%
Green Monday (Dec. 12)	$954	$1,133	19%
Free Shipping Day (Dec. 16)	$942	$1,072	14%
Week Ending Dec. 16	$5,508	$6,315	15%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 17, 2010)

“More than $1 billion in spending on Free Shipping Day put the exclamation point on what will almost certainly be the heaviest week of the online holiday shopping season,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Four individual days surpassed $1 billion in spending this week, with Green Monday leading the way at $1.13 billion. While next week may see another strong day or two at the beginning of the week, it’s clear that we have now reached the crescendo for this season and that spending will begin to slow as we get closer to Christmas, leaving Cyber Monday as the top ranked shopping day for the second year in a row.”

Have Holiday Promotions Been Frontloaded this Year?

Further analysis of retail e-commerce spending trends suggests that holiday deals, such as discounts and free shipping, may have been frontloaded during the earlier portion of the season. We analyzed the year-over-year growth rates for the Mondays and Fridays, which represent the majority of the key promotional days for the season, between Thanksgiving and Free Shipping Day. The results showed significantly higher growth rates during the days nearer to Thanksgiving, with growth rates in the mid-20s, and more modest growth rates in the teens in the middle part of December.

Analysis of 2011 Friday and Monday Spending Patterns between Thanksgiving and Free Shipping Day Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Friday	Spending (Millions)	Y/Y % Chg	Monday	Spending (Millions)	Y/Y % Chg
Nov. 25	$815	26%	Nov. 28	$1,251	27%
Dec. 2	$788	27%	Dec. 5	$1,178	25%
Dec. 9	$917	15%	Dec. 12	$1,132	19%
Dec. 16	$1,072	14%

Free Shipping Rates Rebound during Final Online Sales Push

comScore’s analysis of e-commerce transactions including free shipping indicated that following a decline in the second week of December, free shipping rebounded during this most recent week, which concluded with Free Shipping Day. Each week of the online holiday season-to-date has seen free shipping occur on at least half of all transactions. For the five-day week ending with Free Shipping Day, the percentage of transactions with free shipping reached 56 percent, nearly 4 percentage points higher than the corresponding time period last year.

Weekly Holiday Free Shipping Analysis Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Week Ending	Percent of Transactions with Free Shipping
	2010*	2011	Point Change
11/6/2011	41.8%	52.2%	+10.4
11/13/2011	44.7%	51.2%	+6.5
11/20/2011	50.2%	56.0%	+5.8
11/27/2011	55.0%	64.4%	+9.4
12/4/2011	51.7%	59.4%	+7.7
12/11/2011	51.7%	53.0%	+1.3
12/18/2011**	52.2%	56.0%	+3.8

*Weeks based on corresponding shopping days for 2010
**2011 data based on five-day week (Dec. 12-16)

“Free shipping is undoubtedly one of the most important incentives for consumers and has become a key driver of online buying activity over the past few years,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “This season has seen a continuation of the trend where an increasing percentage of transactions involve free shipping, as more consumers demand it and more retailers provide it. During the week of Thanksgiving and Cyber Week we saw at least 3 in 5 transactions use free shipping, significantly higher rates than we’ve ever previously observed.”

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, December 5, 2011 now ranks as the second heaviest spending day in history at $1.18 billion,” the report said, “followed by Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at $1.12 billion and Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at $1.11 billion.” Read on for more.

ComScore expects that December 12th, otherwise known as “Green Monday,” will also be a successful sales day. “The most recent week of the online holiday shopping season saw growth rates remain in line with the season-to-date at 15 percent and three individual spending days eclipse the $1 billion threshold,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said. “These highlights represent another very positive sign for the holiday shopping season, as the week following ‘Cyber Week’ often experiences relative softness in spending momentum due to retailers pulling back on their promotional activity. As we enter what will be the heaviest week of the season for online retailers – beginning with ‘Green Monday’ on December 12 – all signs are now pointing to a strong finish to the season.” ComScore’s full press release follows below.

U.S. Online Holiday Spending Approaches $25 Billion for the Season, Up 15 Percent vs. Year Ago
Upcoming “Green Monday” (Dec. 12) to Contend with Cyber Monday for Heaviest Online Spending Day of the Year

RESTON, VA, December 11, 2011 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 39 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $24.6 billion has been spent online, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week (week ending Dec. 9) reached $5.9 billion in spending, an increase of 15 percent versus the corresponding week last year, with 3 days surpassing $1 billion. For the holiday season-to-date, six individual days have surpassed the billion dollar threshold, led by Cyber Monday at $1.25 billion.

2011 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Millions ($)
	2010	2011	Percent Change
November 1 – December 9	$21,405	$24,622	15%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24)	$407	$479	18%
Black Friday (Nov. 25)	$648	$816	26%
Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 26-27)	$886	$1,031	16%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 28)	$1,028	$1,251	22%
Week Ending Dec. 9	$5,149	$5,925	15%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 10, 2010)

“The most recent week of the online holiday shopping season saw growth rates remain in line with the season-to-date at 15 percent and three individual spending days eclipse the $1 billion threshold,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “These highlights represent another very positive sign for the holiday shopping season, as the week following ‘Cyber Week’ often experiences relative softness in spending momentum due to retailers pulling back on their promotional activity. As we enter what will be the heaviest week of the season for online retailers – beginning with ‘Green Monday’ on December 12 – all signs are now pointing to a strong finish to the season.”

“Green Monday” Leads the Way for Online Holiday Shopping

The term “Green Monday” was coined by eBay in 2007 to describe the Monday occurring around the second week of December, which has tended to be the heaviest (or among the heaviest) online spending days of the year. Over the past six holiday shopping seasons, “Green Monday” has consistently ranked among the top spending days of the season, ending the year as the top-ranked spending day twice (2005 and 2007) and the second-ranked spending day three times (2006, 2008 and 2010).

“Green Monday” U.S. Online Spending: 2005-2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Year	Date	Spending	Rank for Season
2005	Monday, December 12	$556	1
2006	Monday, December 11	$661	2
2007	Monday, December 10	$881	1
2008	Monday, December 15	$859	2
2009	Monday, December 14	$854	5
2010	Monday, December 13	$954	2

“We know that Green Monday will rank among the top online spending days of the season, but it’s hold on the #1 position may be slipping somewhat over time,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “One possible reason is that as Free Shipping Day (Friday, December 16 this year) gains in importance each year, online spending during the heaviest week of the season is being more evenly distributed throughout the week, whereas in the past there was a much higher concentration of spending during the early part of the week.”

Top Ten Heaviest Online Spending Days on Record

Since comScore began tracking e-commerce spending in 2001, seven individual shopping days have surpassed $1 billion in spending. To date, Cyber Monday 2011 (Nov. 28) ranks as the heaviest online spending day in history at $1.25 billion. Leading off this most recent week of the holiday season, Monday, December 5, 2011 now ranks as the second heaviest spending day in history at $1.18 billion, followed by Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at $1.12 billion and Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at $1.11 billion. Cyber Monday 2010 (Monday, November 29, 2010) rounds out the top five at $1.03 billion. The only day from 2009 to make the list is Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at $913 million, the heaviest spending day of the 2009 season.

Ten Heaviest U.S. Online Retail Spending Days on Record (thru Dec. 9, 2011) Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Date	Spending in Millions ($)
1	Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 (Cyber Monday)	$1,251
2	Monday, Dec. 5, 2011	$1,178
3	Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011	$1,116
4	Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011	$1,107
5	Monday, Nov. 29, 2010 (Cyber Monday)	$1,028
6	Wednesday, November 30, 2011	$1,025
7	Thursday, December 8, 2011	$1,024
8	Monday, Dec. 6, 2010	$943
9	Friday, Dec. 9, 2011	$917
10	Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009	$913

 

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 Thanksgiving day grew 18% to $479 million, Black Friday sales online were up 26% to $816 million and Cyber Monday sales grew 22% to $1.3 billion. ”Cyber Monday kicked the week off with a bang as consumers opened their wallets to the tune of $1.25 billion, but it was only the beginning of a very strong week of online holiday spending,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement. “Tuesday and Wednesday followed with billion dollar spending days, helping Cyber Week reach a record weekly total of nearly $6 billion in spending.” ComScore’s full press release follows below.

$6 Billion in ‘Cyber Week’ U.S. Online Spending Sets New Weekly Record as Three Individual Days Surpass $1 Billion Threshold

Free Shipping Incentive Used on Nearly Two-Thirds of Online Transactions During Most Recent Two Weeks

RESTON, VA, December 4, 2011 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 32 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $18.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw three individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.25 billion. Tuesday, November 29 reached $1.12 billion, while Wednesday, November 30 reached $1.03 billion. These three billion dollar spending days currently rank as three of the four heaviest online spending days in history (with Cyber Monday 2010 being the other).

2011 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Millions ($)
	2010	2011	Percent Change
November 1 – December 2	$16,257	$18,697	15%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24)	$407	$479	18%
Black Friday (Nov. 25)	$648	$816	26%
Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 26-27)	$886	$1,031	16%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 28)	$1,028	$1,251	22%
Week Ending Dec. 2	$5,164	$5,959	15%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 3, 2010)

“Cyber Monday kicked the week off with a bang as consumers opened their wallets to the tune of $1.25 billion, but it was only the beginning of a very strong week of online holiday spending,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Tuesday and Wednesday followed with billion dollar spending days, helping Cyber Week reach a record weekly total of nearly $6 billion in spending. As the deals from this week expire, it will be important to see the degree to which consumers return to the same retailers to continue their holiday shopping, thereby helping improve retailers’ profit margins, or if we experience a pullback in consumer spending – which has occurred in previous years – before promotional offers and spending intensity pick back up in earnest around mid-December.”

Free Shipping Surges to Record Levels

One of the most prevalent holiday season promotions used by online retailers is free shipping, which typically peaks around the Cyber Monday period. comScore’s analysis of the incidence of free shipping used for online retail transactions shows that this incentive is being used at record levels over the first few weeks of the holiday season. Throughout the 2011 holiday season, more than half of all transactions have included free shipping with rates increasing later into the season. The week of Thanksgiving (week ending Nov. 27) saw free shipping occur on 64.4 percent of transactions, while Cyber Week has maintained a similar level at 63.2 percent. In each case, these rates were approximately 10 percentage points higher than last year.

Weekly Holiday Free Shipping Analysis vs. Corresponding Weeks* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Week Ending	Percentage of Transactions with Free Shipping
	2010	2011	Point Change
11/6/2011	41.8%	52.2%	+10.4
11/13/2011	44.7%	51.2%	+6.5
11/20/2011	50.2%	56.0%	+5.8
11/27/2011	55.0%	64.4%	+9.4
12/4/2011**	52.2%	63.2%	+11.0

*Corresponding weeks based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 5, 2010)
**Data based on partial week of data thru Dec. 2, 2011

“Free shipping is one of the most important incentives that online retailers must provide during the holiday season to ensure that shoppers will convert into buyers,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “Consumers have come to expect free shipping during the holiday promotion periods, and retailers, in turn, have realized that they must offer this incentive if they want to maximize their share of consumer spending – especially at the outset of the shopping season. In fact, more than three-quarters of consumers say that free shipping is important to them when making an online purchase, and nearly half say they will abandon their shopping cart at checkout if they find free shipping is not being offered.”

The Importance of Free Shipping to Online Shoppers

As part of comScore’s annual holiday shopping survey of consumers, approximately 1,000 Internet users were asked about the importance of free shipping to their online purchase decisions. More than one-third of respondents (36 percent) indicated that free shipping was “very important” and that they would not make a purchase without it, underscoring the imperative for retailers to offer this incentive during the holidays. An additional 42 percent said that free shipping was “somewhat important” and that they actively seek out free shipping deals. Only 15 percent of respondents indicated that free shipping was not particularly influential in their purchase decision.

Q: “When making a purchase online this holiday season, which of the following statements best describes how important free shipping is to you?” November 29-December 1, 2011, n=1,013 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore 2011 Holiday Survey
Response	Percentage of Respondents
Very important – I will not make a purchase without it	36%
Somewhat important – I actively seek out free shipping deals	42%
Neither important nor unimportant – I would like to find it, but do not require it	12%
Somewhat unimportant – free shipping has very little effect on my purchase decision	1%
Very unimportant – I will make my purchase regardless of shipping costs	2%
Don’t know/not sure	6%

Despite its cost to retailers, free shipping also has a couple of important benefits to online retailers. First, it tends to generate higher average order values, which helps retailers to at least partially offset lower margins. Second, this incentive has for four years had its own marketing event – ‘Free Shipping Day’ (Friday, December 16 this year) – when thousands of merchants offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve, and in past years Free Shipping Day has helped bolster online spending activity later into the season. Last year’s Free Shipping Day, for example, was the third heaviest online spending day of the year at $942 million, representing a dramatic 61 percent increase over the corresponding shopping day the previous year

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 Mario 3D Land, the first 3D Mario game for the Nintendo 3DS, sold more than 500,000 in two weeks, making it the fastest-selling Mario game of all time. Read on for more.

“What this has been able to do is drive our Nintendo 3DS business in only eight months to surpass the full first year volume of the original DS and we still have the bulk of the holiday to go, and we still have the launch of Mario Kart 7 (out Sunday, Dec. 4) to continue driving our full-year sales on Nintendo 3DS,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said in a statement, noting that last week’s 3DS console sales were up 325% over the week prior.

“We know that Black Friday and that entire week is a key selling week and it is important for products like ours to have a jump in momentum and we were fortunate to see that,” Fils-Aime added. “For us, it really was driven by unique and powerful software and what gives us confidence is that we still have more software to launch in the balance of this holiday period.”

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 Best Buy, in a statement. “Xbox 360 was among the best-sellers at Best Buy this Black Friday, and is a testament to the continued popularity of the gaming category this holiday.” Microsoft’s full announcement follows below.

Entering the seventh year of its lifecycle, Xbox 360 just closed the biggest sales week in the history of Xbox, selling more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday.

Microsoft’s retail partners are equally excited about our sales performance this holiday.

“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 Best Buy. “Xbox 360 was among the best-sellers at Best Buy this Black Friday, and is a testament to the continued popularity of the gaming category this holiday.”

Sales highlights in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday include:

• Xbox 360 sold more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. alone, of which more than 800,000 were sold within a period of 24 hours – the biggest week of sales in Xbox history. (Source: Internal data)
• More than 750,000 Kinect for Xbox 360 sensors were sold in the U.S. – standalone and bundled. (Source: Internal data)

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 foot traffic rose 5.1% year-over-year on Black Friday 2011, and spending was up 6.6% to a record $11.4 billion. “This is the largest year-over-year gain in ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate for Black Friday since the 8.3 percent increase we saw between 2007 and 2006,” ShopperTrak CEO Bill Martin said in a statement. “Still, it’s just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season.” Press releases from both IBM and comScore follow below.

Record Online Thanksgiving Day Shopping Paves Way for Strong Black Friday Retail Sales, Reports IBM

Mobile Devices Including the iPhone and iPad Account for 14.3 Percent Of All Black Friday Online Retail Traffic

ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –U.S. shoppers took advantage of early sales this holiday driving a 39.3 percent increase in online Thanksgiving day spending while setting the stage for 24.3 percent online growth on Black Friday compared to the same period last year, according to cloud-based analytics findings by IBM (NYSE: IBM).

As part of IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative, IBM’s online retail benchmark study reveals the following trends as of 12:00 am PST:

• Consumer Spending Increases: Strong Thanksgiving shopping carried over into Black Friday with online sales increasing 24.3 percent annually.
• The Mobile Bargain Hunter: Black Friday witnessed the arrival of the mobile deal seeker who embraced their devices as a research tool for in-store and online bargains. Mobile traffic increased to 14.3 percent on Black Friday 2011 compared to 5.6 percent in 2010.
• Mobile Sales: Sales on mobile devices surged to 9.8 percent from 3.2 percent year over year.
• The Apple Shopper: Mobile shopping was led by Apple, with the iPhone and iPad ranking one and two for consumers shopping on mobile devices (5.4 percent and 4.8 percent respectively). Android came in third at 4.1 percent. Collectively iPhone and iPad accounted for 10.2 percent of all online retail traffic on Black Friday.
• The iPad Factor: Shoppers using the iPad led to more retail purchases more often per visit than other mobile devices with conversion rates reaching 4.6 percent compared to 2.8 percent for overall mobile devices.
• Surgical Shopping Goes Mobile: Mobile shoppers demonstrated a laser focus that surpassed that of other online shoppers with a 41.3 percent bounce rate on mobile devices versus online shopping rates of 33.1 percent.
• The Social Influence: Shoppers referred from Social Networks generated 0.53 percent of all online sales on Black Friday. Facebook led the pack, accounting for 75 percent of all traffic from social networks.
• Social Media Chatter: Boosted by a 110 percent increase in discussion volume compared to 2010, top discussion topics on social media sites immediately before Friday showed a focus on the part of consumers to share tips on how to avoid the rush. Topics included out-of-stock concerns, waiting times and parking, and a spike in positive sentiment around Cyber-Monday sales.

“This year marked Thanksgiving’s emergence as the first big spending day of the 2011 holiday season with a record number of consumers shifting their focus from turkey to tablets and the search for the best deals,” said John Squire, Chief Strategy Officer, IBM Smarter Commerce. “This momentum continued into Black Friday where the big winners were those retailers that delivered a smarter commerce experience with compelling, relevant deals that people could easily access from their channel of choice.”

Online Retail Categories

• Department stores once again offered a vast array of compelling deals and promotions that caught the attention of consumers. As a result, department stores sales were up 59.0 percent from this time last year.
• Home goods also reported a 48.8 percent increase in sales from Black Friday 2010, an indication that many consumers are shifting their attention toward the home this holiday season.
• Apparel sales were also strong this holiday with Black Friday numbers showing an increase of 47.2 percent over 2010.
• Health and Beauty sales were strong as consumers showed a desire to pamper themselves this year. On Black Friday, online sales were up 34.2 percent year over year.

Today’s news is based on finding from the IBM Coremetrics fourth annual Black Friday Benchmark which tracks more than a million transactions a day, analyzing terabytes of raw data from 500 retailers nationwide. With this data IBM helps retailers better understand and respond to their customers – across the organization – improving sourcing, inventory management, marketing, sales, and services programs.

Black Friday Boasts $816 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 26 Percent vs. Year Ago

More than 50 Million Americans Visited Online Retail Sites on Black Friday

Thanksgiving Day Online Spending Jumps 18 Percent to $479 Million

RESTON, VA, November 27, 2011 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 25 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $12.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 25) saw $816 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2011 and representing a 26-percent increase versus Black Friday 2010. Thanksgiving Day (November 24), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 18-percent increase to $479 million.

2011 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Millions ($)
	2010	2011	Percent Change
November 1 – 25	$11,093	$12,737	15%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24)	$407	$479	18%
Black Friday (Nov. 25)	$648	$816	26%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru November 26, 2010)

“Despite some analysts’ predictions that the flurry of brick-and-mortar retailers opening their doors early for Black Friday would pull dollars from online retail, we still saw a banner day for e-commerce with more than $800 million in spending,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “With brick-and-mortar retail also reporting strong gains on Black Friday, it’s clear that the heavy promotional activity had a positive impact on both channels. We now turn our attention to Cyber Monday, a day that Shop.org says will see eight-in-ten retailers running special online promotions. Last year, Cyber Monday was the heaviest day of online spending ever, with sales exceeding $1 Billion, and we fully expect to see another record set this year.”

Black Friday Bargains Boost Web Browsing Behavior

As the online channel increasingly influences offline shopping behavior, consumers turned to Black Friday sites on the web to conduct research in advance of the day’s events. comScore analyzed several Black Friday deal sites for the five days ending Black Friday (Nov. 21-25, 2011) compared to the corresponding days last year, finding that bfads.net led the pack with 3.9 million unique visitors, up 51 percent versus last year. TheBlackFriday.com followed with 3.2 million visitors while also posting the strongest year-over-year growth at 137 percent.

Unique Visitors to Selected Sites Featuring Black Friday Deals Nov. 21-25, 2011 vs. Nov. 22-26, 2010 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Unique Visitors (000)
	Nov. 22-26, 2010	Nov. 21-25, 2011	Percent Change
bfads.net	2,607	3,926	51%
theblackfriday.com	1,364	3,234	137%
blackfriday2011.com*	1,612	1,854	15%
blackfriday.com	668	621	-7%
blackfriday.fm	399	532	33%
gottadeal.com	270	424	57%

*Site was known as BlackFriday2010.com in 2010

Amazon Ranks #1 Among Online Retailers on Black Friday

Fifty million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, representing an increase of 35 percent versus year ago. Each of the top five retail sites achieved double-digit gains in visitors vs. last year, led by Amazon. Walmart ranked second, followed by Best Buy, Target and Apple.

Most Visited Retailer Properties on Black Friday Excludes Auction Sites (e.g. eBay) Black Friday 2011 vs. Black Friday 2010 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Retail Property
1	Amazon
2	Walmart
3	Best Buy
4	Target
5	Apple

“Each of the top online retailers generated significantly greater Black Friday activity compared to last year,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “Amazon.com once again led the pack, with 50 percent more visitors than any other retailer, while also showing the highest growth rate versus last year. However, it is telling that the top multi-channel retailers also showed strong growth in visitors, demonstrating the importance of the online channel to the retail industry as a whole.”

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 Slickdeals also say they have been able to get their local Best Buy and Staples retailer stores to match the sale pricing. The Kindle Fire sale has not been advertised, however, so some retailers will not match the special offer.

UPDATE: Several readers have contacted us claiming the $123 pricing is fake. BGR has not yet been able to confirm these claims.

[Via DroidMatters]

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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. ”Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we’d already sold millions of the new Kindle family and Kindle Fire was the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com,” said Amazon VP Dave Limp in a statement. “Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family – customers purchased 4X as many Kindle devices as they did last Black Friday – and last year was a great year. In addition, we’re seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles – one for themselves and others as gifts – we expect this trend to continue on Cyber Monday and through the holiday shopping season.” Amazon also noted that the Kindle Fire tablet, which BGR reviewed earlier this month, has now been Amazon’s best-selling product for eight weeks running. The company’s full press release follows below.

Best Black Friday Ever for Kindle Family: Kindle Sales Increase 4X Over Last Year

Holiday shoppers made Kindle Fire the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com on Black Friday

Kindle Fire now the bestselling product across Amazon for 8 weeks running – ever since its introduction on September 28

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NASDAQ: AMZN) Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that this Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family and the popular Kindle Fire remained the bestselling product across all of Amazon since its introduction 8 weeks ago. The bestselling Kindle family – the $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch, $149 Kindle Touch 3G and the $199 Kindle Fire – are available now at www.amazon.com/kindle and at over 16,000 retail locations throughout the United States.

“This was a great Black Friday for Target and for Kindle Fire, which was the bestselling tablet in our stores on Black Friday,” said Nik Nayar, vice president merchandising, Target. “We’re excited so many guests chose Target as their destination for the new family of Kindle devices and we’re sure Kindle Fire will continue to be at the top of wish lists this holiday season.”“Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we’d already sold millions of the new Kindle family and Kindle Fire was the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com. Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family – customers purchased 4X as many Kindle devices as they did last Black Friday – and last year was a great year,” said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “In addition, we’re seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles – one for themselves and others as gifts – we expect this trend to continue on Cyber Monday and through the holiday shopping season.”

“We knew Kindle Fire and the new E Ink Kindles would be highly desirable gifts this holiday season,” said Wendy Fritz, senior vice president of Computing, Tablets and e-Readers at Best Buy. “If this Black Friday was any indication, they are only getting hotter as we get into the shopping season.”

Kindle Fire is the bestselling item on Amazon.com and offers more than 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps and games – such as Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and Angry Birds – as well as free storage of Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync for books and movies, a 14.6 ounce design that’s easy to hold with one hand, a vibrant, color touch screen, a powerful dual-core processor and Amazon Silk – Amazon’s new revolutionary web browser that accelerates the power of the mobile device by using the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud – all for only $199.

The $79 latest generation Kindle is for readers around the world who want the lightest, most compact Kindle at an incredible price. Kindle is now small and light enough – at less than 6 ounces – to fit easily in your pocket and carry with you everywhere, yet it still features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G feature an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G are also lighter, smaller, offer audio capabilities, such as text-to-speech and deep integration for audiobooks, extra-long battery life and hold thousands of books. Kindle Touch 3G offers the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle’s free 3G connection means you never have to hunt for or pay for a Wi-Fi hotspot – you simply download and read books anytime, anywhere in over 100 countries around the world. Amazon pays for the 3G connection so there’s no monthly fee or annual contract. Both Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G include X-ray – a new feature invented by Amazon that lets customers explore the “bones of the book.”

With an Amazon Prime membership, all of the new Kindles offer access to the new Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free – including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers – as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates. No other e-reader or e-bookstore offers such a service.

Customers can order the new Kindle family today: the $79 Kindle at www.amazon.com/kindle, Kindle Touch for $99 at www.amazon.com/kindletouch, Kindle Touch 3G for $149 atwww.amazon.com/kindletouch3G and Kindle Fire for $199 at www.amazon.com/kindlefire.

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 Thanksgiving feasts by throwing elbows and sprinting from store to store had better get their game faces on and go in prepared. Following the break, we lay out all the top tech retailers in the country and link you to the tools you need to map out your plan of attack. Good luck, be safe, and Godspeed.

Best Buy Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors open: 12:00 AM

BJ’s Wholesale Club Black Friday 2011 sale detail

Doors open: 7:00 AM

Costco Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors open: 9:00 AM

GameStop Black Friday 2011 sale detail

Doors open: 12:00 AM

Kmart Black Friday 2011 sale detail

Doors open: 5:00 AM

RadioShack Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors Open: 5:30 AM

Sam’s Club Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors open: 5:00 AM

Staples Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors open: 6:00 AM

Target Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors open: 12:00 AM

Walmart Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors open: 12:00 AM

Bonus

For those who would rather not fight through angry mobs of sale-hungry consumers, feel free to enjoy Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals from the comfort of your desk or couch.

Amazon Black Friday 2011 sale details

AmazonWireless Black Friday 2011 sale details

Doors open: Always

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 the high-end tablets, and Apple is lowering the iPod nano’s price by $11 during its one-day sale. The iPod touch will also see discounts ranging from $21 to $41 depending on capacity, and Apple Stores will offer sale pricing on a host of accessories. Two images of the leaked pamphlet follow below.

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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 about item among all of those categories is a pair of black Air Jordan Cement 3s, followed by the PlayStation 3, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console and Kinect accessory, Call of Duty: MW3 and the iPhone 4S. Read on for more information, including the full infographic.

Mashwork’s infographic also suggested that the iPad will be much more popular than the Amazon Kindle Fire on Black Friday, at least until people begin talking more about Amazon’s new tablet on Twitter. “For every 10 times the iPad 2 is talked about in relation to Black Friday, the Kindle Fire is mentioned just once,” Mashwork said.

In another sample taken from 100,333 tweets, 46% of shoppers said they are planning to buy goods for themselves on Black Friday. 36% are planning to buy for others and 18% are planning to purchase items for both themselves and others.

Walmart will be the busiest store, a survey of 2,158 tweets found. 21% of Black Friday shoppers plan to visit the national retail outlet, followed by Best Buy (20%), Target (13%), Macy’s (11%), Amazon.com (10%), Kmart (9%), Kohls (9%) and Nordstrom (7%). Gender does not appear to have a major role, either. In a sample size of 1,676 tweets, 53% of those planning to purchase goods on Black Friday are men while 47% are women.

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, Walmart RadioShack and more.

After selling 500,000 PlayBooks into channels during the tablet’s first quarter of availability, RIM sold just 200,000 units to distributors last quarter. Analyst checks indicate that sell-through is stalling as well, so a huge sale like this could be a last hurrah for the tablet. Users might enjoy the PlayBook if they give it a test drive, but a lack of apps, no PIM or email support and a lack of compelling features compared to the competition have kept the ball in Apple and Google’s court. Now, with a $199 Kindle Fire and $249 Nook Tablet having been released, the PlayBook’s odds drop even lower.

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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, however, so expectations should be relatively low.

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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 Focus S, the BlackBerry Bold 9930 and more. Unfortunately, you’ll need to purchase an iPhone elsewhere: Amazon’s AmazonWireless subsidiary doesn’t carry the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. Amazon is also offering a $100 “Hotspot Holidays” promotion in which customers who sign up for a hotspot data plan will receive a $100 Amazon.com credit. The penny special begins now and ends on Cyber Monday, November 28th.

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Black Friday is shaping up to be huge for consumers shopping on mobile devices this year, and it looks like consumers shopping for mobile devices will be abundant as well. A new survey conducted by Retrevo.com found that Black Friday bargain hunters will be on the look out for tablets more so than any other gadget next Friday. Among those polled, 32% said they would be hunting for a Black Friday deal on a tablet this holiday season. 25% of respondents said they would scout for deals on HDTVs, 24% said they would be looking for deals on laptops and 19% plan to hunt for deals on smartphones this Black Friday. Read on for more.

“Would you get up at four o’clock in the morning to get a deal on a tablet or laptop computer?” Retrevo wondered in a post on its blog. “Apparently there are plenty of bargain hunters who plan of braving the elements this Black Friday to buy electronic things. Although we don’t expect to see too many doorbuster deals on iPads or even other tablets, it’s at the top of the bargain hunter’s list this year.”

When asked about the one gadget respondents would most like to receive as a gift this holiday season, tablets dominated yet again. Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire were tied atop the list, each having been named by 10% of those surveyed. Smartphones filled the No.2 spot with 9%, HDTVs were mentioned by 8% of respondents and laptops and digital cameras were tied with 6%. Only 4% of those polled said that an Amazon Kindle eReader was their ideal gift.