ComScore has reported that Black Friday online sales were up 1% over last year, though November eCommerce figures remain down 4% for the first 28 days of November.
Of course, for eCommerce companies, so-called Cyber Monday has become the big day; that's when shoppers go back to work and seem to spend their day comparison shopping online, taking advantage of high-speed connections. Amazon (NASD:AMZN), Buy.com, Walmart and others will be posting online specials throughout the day on Monday. Most of the etailers reported strong traffic on Friday, though, and with increasing availability of broadband, it will be interesting to see whether Cyber Monday still has the same impact it has in recent years.
Offline shopping was stronger than expected on Black Friday, with ShopperTrak reporting a 3% increase in sales over the same day last year. While mall traffic slowed Saturday and Sunday, retailers clearly were relieved at the sales levels from the weekend. Retailers have been heavily discounting, both online and off, so bottom line numbers are still likely to disappoint.
ComScore had previously projected online sales for 2008 to be flat to the $29.2 billion posted a year ago.
My guess is that people went out in search of bargains this weekend for the gifts they have to buy, but that they'll cut back on their overall spending between now and Christmas.
