So far, following a popular nationwide debt free effort, keeping down or staying out of debt seems to be the focus for consumers across the United States this holiday season. Both brick and mortar and online stores saw an increase in shoppers over last year, but those shoppers were looking more and spending less.
A report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) states that 195 million consumers either visited stores and web sites over the traditional post Thanksgiving shopping weekend. This was an increase of 23 million more shoppers than the same period in 2008. Over a quarter of Americans shopping over the weekend shopped online and of those visiting stores, nearly half visited at least one department store, breaking the previous pattern of shopping discount and outlet stores.
While the number of consumers that visited stores either physically or online up, per person spending was down according to NRF. The average amount spent was $343.31 per shopper as compared to $372.57 one year ago suggesting that Americans are concentrating on staying within a budget and spending less this year.
Of interest in these hard economic times, is a swing away from using credit cards for holiday purchases. Responding to a Reuters poll, 26 percent of those participating said that used a credit card for their Black Friday weekend shopping, while 74 percent said that they used only cash or debit card.
Staying the course and keeping debt down is always a battle during the holiday season. Many Americans are forced by unemployment to cut back, but for many others, the recent recession has been a wake-up call. Staying on track and cutting spending and credit card debt is a goal worth trying for.
