Marketing Tactics

New York - The holiday shopping season got off to a positive if unspectacular start, according to preliminary results from the Black Friday weekend.  The number of people who shopped at stores and online between Thursday and Sunday was up 8.7% to 212 million shoppers, according to a National Retail Federation survey of 4,306 shoppers conducted by BIGresearch. The total amount spent during the four-day weekend reached an estimated $45 billion, with the average spending rising 6.4% to $365.34, the survey showed.

New York - Visits to the top 500 retail sites increased 13% on Black Friday, according to data from Experian Hitwise. For the sixth year in a row, Amazon was the top retail site receiving traffic on Black Friday. Walmart was the second most visited retail site, followed by Target. But Target’s visits increased 13% on versus 2009, representing the biggest increase among the top five sites. The top 20 retail sites accounted for 61% of all visits among the top 500 retail sites.

Disney Store has opened its largest and most ambitious store to date -- smack in the middle of Manhattan’s Times Square. The 20,000-sq.ft., two-level Disney emporium is about five times bigger than most Disney stores, with a layout that is divided by the company’s most popular franchises.

New York City -- Confidence among U.S. consumers increased more than forecast in November to the highest level in five months. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment rose to 71.6 during the month, from 67.7 in October. Economists had projected a reading of 69.5.

The report came as retailers prepared for the Black Friday shopping onslaught, the official start of the holiday shopping season.