Answer: Online purchases grew by 23%; Sales at brick-and-mortar stores declined by 4-7%

Questions:

• Did you do any shopping on Black Friday? If so, did you visit stores or shop online? 
• Why do you think that more people are making online purchases? Do you think this trend will increase or decrease over time? 
• Do you have a budget for holiday shopping this year?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (Reuters)

Online sales rose more than 23 percent, crossing $6 billion on Black Friday, according to data from Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions at 80 of the top 100 U.S. retailers. On Thanksgiving, it estimated sales grew 28 percent to $3.7 billion.

Preliminary data from analytics firm RetailNext showed net sales at brick-and-mortar stores fell 4 to 7 percent over the two days, while traffic fell 5 to 9 percent, continuing the trend of recent years. No data was yet available for actual spending in stores.

Thanks to NGPF Fellow Sue Suttich for recommending the topic for this Question of the Day. 

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Here's a related Question of the Day that asks how many consumers are able to stick with their holiday budgets. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.