Today is traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Black Friday is associated with great deals on goods, especially electronics, and huge crowds in many minds.
According to InformationWeek, Monday, known in ecommerce as Cyber Monday, will also be big this year. Despite a mixed outlook for shopping this holiday season, online merchants are gearing up for brisk sales come Monday.
According to a survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) on Tuesday, 128 million people will shop over the holiday weekend. The Survey found that 49 million consumers planned to visit stores over the holiday weekend and another 79 million consumers report they will wait to see what weekend deals would be before fighting the shopping crowds. Last year 135 million people planned to shop over the holiday weekend.
Analysts say that shoppers may have some extra money thanks to gas prices being significantly lower than they have been earlier in 2008. Pent-up demand for shoppers who have been waiting for Black Friday deals all year could also fuel spending according to the NRF.
NRF president and CEO Tracy Mullin said, "Shoppers who held off buying a DVD player or winter coat over the last few months will find that prices may literally be too good to pass up."
Shoppers and consumers are hoping for good deals and brisk sales over the holiday weekend, but things are still looking grim for the economy in America. The U.S. Commerce Department reported this week that orders for durable goods decreased by 6.2% last month to $193 billion. The drop in orders was predicted to be only 3%.