Black Friday Weekend Traffic up 4.8 Percent as Consumers Shop for Smaller Ticket Items (Nov. 25, 2008) (National Retail Federation) Consumers spent an average of $347.44*, down 3.5 percent from last year, but still up an incredibly strong 14.8 percent from 2005. Retailers made up for the lower average expenditure with increased traffic
Black Friday was marked with retailers opening their doors earlier than ever, with some choosing to start their sales as early as midnight. This strategy appeared to pay off as 14.3 percent of consumers were out shopping before 4:00 AM, compared to 12.4 percent last year. *Spending data includes Thursday, Friday, Saturday and projected spending for Sunday

BIG NRF 2007 Black Friday Weekend - press.xls (2007) National Retail Federation) 2007 BIGresearch- Black Friday Weekend 11/22-24 07

Holiday Surveys 2007 (National Retail Federation)

Holiday shoppers show restraint (2007) (CNNMoney.com) According to CNNMoney.com, "Although deep discounts brought out much bigger crowds of holiday bargain hunters, a major retail trade group said Sunday that shoppers actually spent less money this year over the crucial Thanksgiving weekend." According to  Tracy Mullim from The National Retail Foundation, "While last year showed a greater emphasis on high-definition televisions, this year consumers were focused on lower-priced doorbusters like digital photo frames, laptops and cashmere sweaters".

The Top-selling Products on Black Friday 2007 (2007) (i4U News) Top-selling products for Black Friday 2007 included the Nintendo Wii, 30GB Brown Zune, TomTom One 3rd Edition GPS, Guitar Hero III, and Canon PowerShot SD1000.I4U: The Top-selling Products on Black Friday 2007(November 25, 2008)

Shoppers start holiday marathon (2007) (CNNMoney.com) : Worried retailers and mall operators breathed a sigh of relief after the 2007 holiday shopping marathon off to a robust start Friday. According to the first early sales estimate, MasterCard Advisors retail analyst Michael McNamara expects Black Friday sales to hit $20 billion. MasterCard Advisors tracks spending made on credit and debit cards as well as cash and check transactions.

Best Black Friday 2007 blockbuster deals (2007) (string of blog posts on Zdnet.com) : Well it's that time of year again to kick off the 2007 Christmas shopping season and it's the best time to find the best bargains in shopping since retailers are desperately trying to get you in to the stores.