Consumers increasingly turned online during the Black Friday weekend, boosting traffic during the crucial start of the holiday shopping season.
Nearly 109 million people shopped from their computers and mobile devices from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday, while about 99 million hit the sales in brick-and-mortar stores, according to a survey from the trade group National Retail Federation. That’s compared to last year, when shoppers were more evenly split, with 103 million browsing online and 102 million in stores.
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Holiday shoppers at the Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles, Calif., on Black Friday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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People shop Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles on Black Friday.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 3/27
A holiday shopper clutches an UGG bag at Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles on Black Friday.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 4/27
Ivet Castrejon of Los Angeles, with son Jared Castrejon, 4, takes a break while shopping at Citadel Outlets on Black Friday.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 5/27
Holiday shoppers shop the stores at Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles on Black Friday.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 6/27
Large crowds of shoppers navigate their way through South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Black Friday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 7/27
Large crowds of shoppers navigate their way through South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Black Friday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 8/27
Ayla Shahbander, 3, left, and father Bill Shahbander of Irvine wait patiently for his wife as she shops for shoes at Macy’s in South Coast Plaza on Friday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 9/27
Taking a break, Tina Cole, 34, of Los Angeles, says she “comes every year and loves it.†She is shopping in the busy shoe section at Macy’s in South Coast Plaza on Friday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 10/27
Brian Pham, 13, left, and Brandon Pham, 8, of Santa Ana quietly keep themselves occupied at Macy’s in South Coast Plaza on Friday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 11/27
Mandy Zhao, 20, left, of Irvine, Mia Hou, 19, center, of Irvine, and Keer Xu of San Diego woke up at 2 a.m. Friday. Now they are exhausted at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 12/27
Zoey Dao, 21 months, of Mission Viejo enjoys the carousel at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 13/27
Jesse Laier, left, of Long Beach and Melinda Telford, of Fountain Valley take a break from shopping at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 14/27
Eddy Gonzalez of Los Angeles, shown with Natalie Lopez, left, of Los Angeles, shops on Thanksgiving Day at Best Buy at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 15/27
Steven Nunez, of Santa Monica, along with other holiday shoppers wait in line to purchase their electronics on Thanksgiving Day at Best Buy at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 16/27
Holiday shoppers on Thanksgiving Day enter Best Buy at Westfield Culver City, in Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 17/27
Holiday shoppers haul their televisions to their car on Thanksgiving Day at Best Buy at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 18/27
Jose Calderon of South Pasadena, center, is one of the first shoppers to enter Target for Thanksgiving shopping deals in Eagle Rock.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 19/27
Customers crowd into the electronics department at Target for Thanksgiving shopping deals in Eagle Rock.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 20/27
Flor Gomez and son Mark Nunez shop for the holidays on Thanksgiving Day at JCPenney at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 21/27
Yocelyne Isidoro and brother Eric walk out with new suitcases on Thanksgiving Day at JCPenney at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 22/27
Holiday shoppers look for deals on Thanksgiving Day at JCPenney at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 23/27
A holiday shopper waits in line outside JCPenney on Thanksgiving Day at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 24/27
Holiday shopping attracted a large crowd outside J.C. Penney on Thanksgiving Day at Westfield Culver City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 25/27
Holiday shopping attracted a large crowd outside J.C. Penney on Thanksgiving Day at Westfield Culver City.
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Early Black Friday shoppers load a big-screen TV into their car after purchasing it at the Best Buy in Fairfax, Va.
(Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images) 27/27
The store manager at a Best Buy gives his sales team a pep talk moments before opening the doors to early Black Friday shoppers in Fairfax, Va.
(Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images) “The story of the weekend was online increasing over in-store,†said Pam Goodfellow, principal analyst at Prosper Insights and Analytics, which crunches data for the trade group.
Some shoppers, of course, did both. That put the total number of shoppers during the four-day weekend at more than 154 million — up from 151 million in 2015, the survey said.
Shoppers spent an average of $289.19, down from $299.60 last year, the survey said. Matthew Shay, chief executive of the trade group, said some promotions were steeper than in 2015. This year, 36% of shoppers reported that all of their purchases were sale items; last year, 11% of consumers said so.
The holiday season is vital to retailers, which can make up to 40% of their annual sales during that time. The National Retail Federation forecasts that sales during November and December will climb 3.6% to $655.8 billion, up slightly from the same period in 2015.
Although Black Friday has evolved, it continues to be the biggest day of the year in terms of shopper traffic, according to a separate report from consumer analytics firm ShopperTrak. In-store visits dropped 1% over the two days of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but that decline came from slower traffic on Turkey Day.
“We found that Thanksgiving Day store openings were increasingly pulling shopper visits from Black Friday over the past few years,†said Brian Field, senior director of advisory services for ShopperTrak. “This year, we saw a reversal of that trend, which can be attributed to several factors including fewer store openings on Thanksgiving Day, as well as online shopping.â€
Field said that eight of the 10 biggest shopping days of the year have yet to come, including Super Saturday on Dec. 17.
Retailers should get a boost from Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, Field said. The Friday before Christmas and the day after, which is a Monday, should also be top shopping days as well.
Follow Shan on Twitter @ByShanLi
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