Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the US, falls
this year on its earliest possible date - November 23.
The big day of store sales when retailers are supposed to go
into the black for the year also signals the unofficial start of the holiday
shopping season.
The latest online retail figures from the comScore research
firm suggest the industry will need all those extra days of shopping – Black
Friday can fall as late as the 29th – to avoid a disappointing
Christmas.
It reports retail e-commerce sales in October grew 19 per
cent on last year to $9.96bn. That compares to year-to-date sales growth of 21
per cent up to the end of September.
Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman, said October’s figures
often gave a glimpse of what to expect during the holiday season:
“That online sales growth rates diminished slightly in
October is not entirely unexpected, as many consumers are feeling the pinch of
ballooning mortgages and gas prices, coupled with a decline in housing values.
Even the rapidly growing online commerce sector appears to not be immune from
these economic realities,” he said.
Apparel and accessories growing by only 5 per cent in
October could be down to unseasonably warm weather, he added, and a recovery in
this sector could change the picture for Christmas sales online.
There were also encouraging figures for some
categories of retailers. Furniture, appliances and equipment grew 105 per cent
on a year ago, while sales of the Nintendo Wii, Sony’s PlayStation 3 price cuts
and the success of the game Halo saw the video game sector soar 264 per cent
compared to October 2006.
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