Black Friday sales strong: CEA

ARLINGTON, USA: Strong November sales continued into Black Friday weekend as consumers took advantage of an early start to the holiday shopping season and many holiday weekend specials at retailers, according to new research released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

This weekend’s shopping patterns proved consistent with CEA’s earlier predictions of volume growth of 6 percent this holiday, compared with a significant decline in consumer spending last year. CEA’s 16th Annual CE Holiday Purchase Patterns Study also found 80 percent of adults intend to purchase technology as a gift this holiday, the highest figure in the history of the study.

“Consumer enthusiasm for technology has been building, as seen by CEA-CNET’s consumer technology sentiment index, which hit an all-time high last week,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA’s President and CEO. “Results from this weekend suggest consumer technology will be the must-have gift this holiday and will lead economic recovery in 2010.”

Traffic at many major consumer electronics retailers was heavy over the weekend as consumers took advantage of special Black Friday weekend promotions. Consumer sampling at several consumer electronics retail locations by CEA and ChannelForce found nearly 40 percent of consumers believed traffic this year was heavier than last Black Friday and nearly 80 percent believed it was at least as busy, if not more so, than last year.

Over half of consumers interviewed were in the store to buy a specific holiday gift and to take advantage of a specific promotion. CEA’s holiday study, released on October 19, showed notebooks, portable mp3 players and flat-panel TVs would be the most purchased CE products this holiday and new and emerging product categories, such as eBook readers, Blu-ray players and smartphones, would also be popular.

“Consumers found attractive technology offerings this weekend, consistent with CEA’s earlier Black Friday predictions that consumers are making this holiday a digital one,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and director of research. “Research by CEA and ChannelForce confirms that TVs, Digital Cameras, and Blu-ray players were the top attraction on Black Friday.”