coats and handbags at the store with two friends."I shopped online yesterday and picked up most of what I wanted," she said." I'm out because Black Friday is more like a tradition, but the discounts are similar even online this year."
While Black Friday may be losing some appeal in the United States, British shoppers have taken to the concept enthusiastically, with reports of large crowds at big stores and malls in the UK.
Shares of Target Corp gained 0.4 percent, but J.C. Penney wad down 0.7 percent, and Macy's and Best Buy lost about 1 percent. Wal-Mart dipped 0.6 percent, while Amazon.com Inc was down 0.3 percent.
A broad retail index was down 0.15 percent in abbreviated trading.
Traffic was better at some retailers. Analysts at Cowen & Co said Target stood out with its "innovative promotions," and teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc saw more traffic due to store-wide discounts of 40 percent.
Shoppers in the United States spent $822 million online between midnight and 11 am ET, a 15-percent increase from 2014 but lower than the expected growth of 19 percent, according to the Adobe Digital Index, which tracked 180 million visits to over 4,500 U.S. retail sites. On Thanksgiving Day, online sales rose 22 percent from midnight to 5 pm ET.Many stores around the country were full on Thanksgiving evening. Media showed brawling shoppers at a packed Kentucky mall Thursday, forcing a police officer to break up the fight.
Wal-Mart worker group 'Our Wal-Mart' said 1,400 workers planned to fast and protest around the country for better wages, but there was no indication that would hurt sales.
Early Black Friday discounts included $700 off a 60-inch Samsung television at Best Buy for $799.99, 20 percent off a $75 purchase at Target, and a Kindle for $49.99 on Amazon.com.
The National Retail Federation is expecting holiday sales to rise 3.7 percent, slower than last year's 4.1 percent growth rate, due to stagnant wages and sluggish job growth.
Jorgette Clark, 27, said her budget would probably be lower this year because her husband works in the energy industry.
"I feel like we scaled back this year. Our husbands work in the oil fields... It's probably a smaller Christmas this year."