(By Balaseshan) Holiday shoppers rose 9 percent to 247 million over Black Friday weekend, due to Thanksgiving Day promotions, according to a National Retail Federation survey conducted by BIGinsight.
The average holiday shopper spent $423 this weekend, up from $398 last year. Total spending reached an estimated $59.1 billion.
According to the survey 28.0 percent of weekend shoppers were at the stores by midnight on Black Friday, compared to 24.4 percent last year. According to the survey, the average person spent $172.42 online over the weekend, or about 40.7 of their total weekend spending, up from 37.8 percent last year.
NRF also asked shoppers which days they shopped online – more than one-quarter (27.0%) of holiday shoppers said they shopped online on Thanksgiving Day, and nearly half (47.5%) on Black Friday.
According to another survey conducted for Shop.org by BIGinsight, 129.2 million Americans plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year, up from the 122.8 million who shopped last year, and the 106.9 million who shopped on Cyber Monday in 2010.
The number of shoppers planning to use their smartphones or other mobile device this Cyber Monday increased to 20.4 million this year, from 17.8 million in 2011, an increase of 14.4 percent.
While the majority of Cyber Monday shoppers will make purchases from their home computer (88.0 percent, or 113.7 million people), nearly 16 million will also use their computers at work to shop this year (12.4 percent).
Eager to meet consumers' demands, 85 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, according to a survey released by Shop.org last week. While many retailers expect to see sales and traffic spike over lunch hours, Cyber Monday shoppers plan to go online throughout the day.
According to the survey, 44.4 percent of Cyber Monday shoppers plan to hit the web early in the morning, with more than one-third of (36.8 percent) planning to shop in the late morning. Additionally, nearly three in 10 Cyber Monday shoppers (29.2 percent) will shop in the early evening.