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Customers stream into Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square on Thanksgiving evening for early Black Friday sales in New York City.
With discounts starting early and more days to shop before Christmas this year, fewer people turned out for the five-day shopping extravaganza Thanksgiving weekend, a retail industry trade group said.
Holiday shoppers still have long lists of gifts to buy, which gives the group confidence that it will be a strong holiday season.
More than 165 million Americans shopped either online or in stores from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday this year, down from more than 174 million in 2017, the National Retail Federation revealed Tuesday.
The industry trade group is still calling for holiday sales to increase between 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent, but now says it’s confident it will be on the higher end of that range.
It’s already been reported that this year a record $6.22 billion was spent online Black Friday, with $3.7 billion spent online Thanksgiving Day. More and more shoppers are seen turning to their smartphones to make purchases around the holidays, as retailers are experimenting with ways to still lure people out to stores.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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