Holiday Shopping Season Off To Stonger Than Expected Start

November 30, 2008 10:55 a.m. EST

Miami, FL (AHN) - The holiday shopping season got off to a strong start Friday as retail sales increased 3 percent over 2007, according to a report from ShopperTrak RCT.

Preliminary sales estimates for "Black Friday" totaled $10.6 billion, ShopperTrak showed.

The report said deep discounts drove large numbers of consumers to various retail locations to spend their money, despite historically tough economic times.

"Retailers truly experienced what we've dubbed the 'perfect storm' over the last few weeks, with the financial markets melting down, the presidential election, which typically slows retail traffic, and relatively high gasoline prices - all of which slowed both retail traffic and spending," Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, said in a statement.

The southern region of the United States led the way with a 3.4-percent increase over 2007, with the mid-west (up 2.7 percent) and northeast (up 2.6 percent) closely following, Martin said.

ShopperTrak got its numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce's general merchandise, apparel, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, hobby, books and other related store sales statistics, and ShopperTrak's proprietary statistics.