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Holiday spending off to a sluggish start – Metro US

Holiday spending off to a sluggish start

Holiday shoppers
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According to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, shoppers aren’t into holiday spending this year. The survey found that Black Friday spending dropped 11 percent from last year and Cyber Monday spending is expected to be lower as well.

To encourage more shoppers, many big box stores like Wal-Mart and Toys R Us opened their doors at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day instead of waiting until early Friday morning. While this didn’t have the effect retailers hoped it would have, plenty of shoppers still felt the draw. Spending still reached $50.9 billion over Thanksgiving weekend, with the average shopper estimated to have spent $380.95

Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season and the disappointing start has retailers worried that their total holiday sales will be less than originally projected. Retailers are hoping sales from Cyber Monday make up for the lack of Black Friday sales and today is projected to be the biggest shopping day of the year.