Black Friday sales figures would not be available until Sunday, but shoppers in Orlando took advantage of the earlier than usual store openings to hunt for bargains and discounts offered at chains like Best Buy, Wal-mart and Macy’s. At the Mall at Millennia on Conroy Road, a parking spot was hard to come by as consumers flocked to the nearly 150 shops, services and eateries contained within the 1.2 milion square-foot Mall.
Customers who didn’t brave the crowds on Black Friday said, similar deals or even greater discounts could be had a week or two before Christmas.
“I will get much better deals in about two weeks or so and not have to wait in line for the items,” Kevin said. “Merchants are getting rid of these items first on Black Friday.”
Retailers offered more discounts this year, given the low level of consumer confidence, and this may boost sales, said Craig Johnson, president of consulting firm, Customer Growth Partners, businessweek.com reports. Revenue in the first 24 hours of Black Friday may grow to $27 billion, an 8 percent increase from the same period a year ago, Johnson said, whose firm is based in Connecticut.
Some analysts have suggested that the increase in consumers this year is a good sign, although it doesn’t necessarily mean that overall holiday sales will increase a lot more than last year. People are spending about the same as last year, “nothing has shown us it’s going to be great, and nothing has shown us it’s going to be terrible,” said Marshal Cohen, a New York-based analyst with NPD Group, according to businessweek.com.
The National Retail Federation has projected that sales may increase by 2.8 percent to $465.6 billion at brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season, slower than the 5.2 percent attained in 2010.
Black Friday violence among shoppers trying to get bargains have been reported. A woman pepper-sprayed Wal-mart shoppers in Los Angeles, California to prevent them from getting an X-box that she wanted, injuring 20 people in the melee. Police said the woman was “competitive shopping.” Two others persons were shot in the mega retailer’s parking lots in San Leandro, California and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the newyorktimes.com reports. And in a Wal-mart store on East Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee, a man was arrested for resisting police, when a verbal confrontation broke out with another man and cops tried to de-escalate the brawl.
Meanwhile, Cyber Monday sales start on November 28, although The Apple Store held its annual Cyber Black Friday sale on 25 November – the only day of the year that Apple discounts its popular Mac, iPad and iPhone products.
