Retail Foot Traffic Up 8.2% During ‘Black Weekend,’ Report Finds

Consumer behavior changed this year as more Americans began or ended Thanksgiving Day by embracing early Black Friday deals and visiting stores on Thursday. ShopperTrak, the world's largest counter of retail foot traffic, estimates that when compared to "Black Weekend" last year, retail foot traffic rose 8.2 percent to more than 594 million store visits. Retail sales increased 2.7 percent, with shoppers spending about $22 billion across the weekend's four days. Thursday's "doorbuster" deals drove sales and traffic earlier in the weekend.