Online Spending For Black Friday Hits New Record In Internet Age

Black Friday always leaves something of a black mark on Americans, and consumers in general. It's really a weird, tragic event to celebrate. We usually spend all of Thanksgiving recognizing all that we have to be thankful for, and perhaps not even 24 hours later, some consumers head to big box shops to trounce one another in an effort to get more, more, more. It's all a bit beyond us, truth to be told, but evidently the masses aren't hearing any of that logic. Instead, they're spending even more, and so long as that trend continues, you can bet that retailers aren't going to stop forcing employees to come in at 8PM on Thanksgiving to work the night away.

According to ComScore, online spending for the Black Friday holiday hit a record, notching some $1.04 billion. For the holiday season-to-date, $13.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 16-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 23) saw $1.042 billion in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2012 and representing a 26-percent increase versus Black Friday 2011. Thanksgiving Day (November 22), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 32-percent increase to $633 million. 57.3 million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, representing an increase of 18 percent versus year ago. Amazon ranked as the most visited online retail site on Black Friday while also posting the highest year-over-year visitor growth rate among the top five retailers, with Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and Apple following suit in that order.


In other words, despite the fact that more people are dodging the crowds and shopping online, there are still even more people flocking to physical stores. Did you manage to snap up any great Black Friday deals? Or are you opting to wait for today to see what Cyber Monday brings?