Thank You, Shoppers

If you were one of the shoppers out deal hunting on Black Friday, you can give yourself a pat on the back for supporting the US economy.

The Associated Press reports that Black Friday bargain hunters made a strong showing and held steady through the weekend.

Taubman Centers, which operates 24 malls nationwide, tells the AP that sales Friday saw increases anywhere from in the mid-single digits to the double-digits compared with a year ago. On Saturday, sales were either on par with last year or showed a slight increase. Last year, Black Friday sales were decent, but holiday shopping dropped off on the weekend after and continued to remain disappointing through Christmas.

This year, retailers proved they will do just about anything to separate consumers from their money. Many stores weren't content to wait until the crack of dawn on Friday morning to open their doors — some were greeting customers as early as midnight.

Unlike in years past, many national retailers such as J.C. Penney, Kmart and Sears made their Black Friday deals available to online shoppers at the same time that they were available to in store shoppers (sparing us all the indignities of stampeding crowds.) The AP reports that online sales rose 11 percent to $913 million on Thursday and Friday, according to comScore, an Internet research team.

"Forget Black Friday for bricks and Cyber Monday for clicks — this year it's all about making it easy for customers to satisfy their shopping fix ... wherever and whenever," John Long, a retail strategist at Kurt Salmon Associates told the AP.

Still, not everyone is convinced the hard sell will translate into improved sales. The National Retail Federation trade group is still predicting a 1 percent drop in sales from last year.

We'll all be anxiously awaiting the November numbers when they're released by retailers on Thursday.

Photo courtesy of robholland via Flickr.