Black Friday: More shoppers, modest sales

Even though the report showed that there were more shoppers yet modest sales on Black Friday, there are some supposition that it's not the result of slumping consumer confidence. ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said, supported with data, that stores may have cannibalized some Black Friday sales by prodding shoppers with doorbuster-like deals weeks in advance. In fact, a separate survey found that shoppers bought more goods. The number of purchases were 4% higher than last year, according to a survey of shoppers by market research firm NPD Group. Hopefully, this can be a reliable sign for consumer optimism and that the actual recession is almost over.