This past Friday will go down in the record books as another heavy spending day this holiday season. Consumers spent a total of $1.07 billion on December 16th, otherwise known as “Free Shipping Day,” which was more than consumers spent during the entirety of the Thanksgiving weekend ($1.03 billion) and 14% more than consumers spent on the same day in 2010. Shoppers spent the most money on Cyber Monday so far this holiday season ($1.25 billion) followed by Green Monday ($1.13 billion) and Free Shipping Day. More →
Amazon made a name for itself by undercutting the competition, and the retailer has come through once again to offer the best price we’ve seen so far on Verizon Wireless’s brand new Samsung Galaxy Nexus. BGR reported last night that mobile retailer LetsTalk was offering the Galaxy Nexus for just $154.99 thanks to a $75 coupon. Not to be outdone, AmazonWireless is now selling the sleek Android 4.0 phone for just $149.99 with a new two-year contract, no coupon needed. Amazon is also offering free two-day shipping, though the Galaxy Nexus is currently backordered with new purchases expected to ship in 8 to 9 days. This deal is only available for a limited time and it is only available for new activations — existing customers looking to upgrade will have to pay $249.99, $75 more than LetsTalk is currently charging. More →
U.S. consumers spent $1.1 billion on Green Monday, up 19% from the same day last year according to comScore. Green Monday was the third heaviest day behind the record-setting Cyber Monday, when consumers spent $1.25 billion, and Monday December 5th, when consumers spent $1.17 billion. “Green Monday was another exceptional day for the online holiday shopping season, posting more than $1.1 billion in sales with a growth rate of 19 percent versus last year,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said. “Green Monday also kicks off what should be the heaviest week of the year for online shopping, where we could see several billion dollar spending days, punctuated by Free Shipping Day on Friday, December 16.” The research firm recently said that holiday spending this year is already approaching $25 billion. ComScore’s full press release follows after the break.
U.S. consumers have spent close to $25 billion so far this holiday season, up 15% from the same period last year, according to a new report from comScore. The research group studied holiday shopping trends beginning in November and found that $479 million was spent on Thanksgiving Day, $816 million was spent on Black Friday, $886 million was spent during Thanksgiving weekend and a record $1.25 billion was spent on Cyber Monday. That wasn’t the only record broken this year, however. “Monday, December 5, 2011 now ranks as the second heaviest spending day in history at $1.18 billion,” the report said, “followed by Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at $1.12 billion and Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at $1.11 billion.” Read on for more. More →
We just elbowed our way through crowds, crawled on the ground under legs and ducked beneath cameras to bring you a look at the insanity that is Apple’s Grand Central Terminal Apple Store (grand) opening. The line to get in was wrapped deep inside and around the corridors of Grand Central Station, and there were hundreds of people gathered around the steps of the East Balcony entrance as well. Those who are smart enough to steer clear of the bedlam should be sure to check out our photo gallery below, and stay tuned for more pictures once if we can manage to fight our way inside.
Apple officially announced Wednesday that it will open its brand new Apple Store in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 9th. It is the fifth Apple Store location in Manhattan. Apple has 315 employees working at the store, there will be two Genius Bars, and the company will use Grand Central’s balcony coves for personal training and personal setup rooms. The Apple Store Grand Central is open from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Apple’s full press release follows after the break. More →
Online spending during the week ending on December 2nd totalled nearly $6 billion according to comScore, setting a new single-week record. The market research firm on Sunday released its estimates for online spending so far during the holiday shopping season, and it is reporting significant year-on-year increases across the board. Total spending between November 1st and December 2nd is up 15% over 2010 to $18.7 billion and Cyber Week spending also grew 15% to approximately $6 billion. Online shopping on Thanksgiving day grew 18% to $479 million, Black Friday sales online were up 26% to $816 million and Cyber Monday sales grew 22% to $1.3 billion. ”Cyber Monday kicked the week off with a bang as consumers opened their wallets to the tune of $1.25 billion, but it was only the beginning of a very strong week of online holiday spending,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement. “Tuesday and Wednesday followed with billion dollar spending days, helping Cyber Week reach a record weekly total of nearly $6 billion in spending.” ComScore’s full press release follows below. More →
Apple confirmed on its website Monday that its brand new 23,000-square-foot retail store in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal will open on Friday, December 9th at 10:00 a.m. The Apple Store will be located on the East Balcony of the train station’s main terminal. Unlike Apple’s 5th Avenue location, the Grand Central store will not be open 24 hours a day. It will close at 9:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday, 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 6:00 p.m. on Sundays. Despite initial reports that Apple’s deal with New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) had soured, Apple officially won approval to occupy the Grand Central Terminal space in July. Apple reportedly agreed to a 10-year contract with the MTA, during which it will pay $800,000 per year to occupy the space. Original rumors suggested that Apple’s Grand Central store would be the world’s largest, those claims have not been confirmed. More →
U.S. consumers spent a record $1.25 billion online on Cyber Monday, the second time the U.S. has ever spent more than $1 billion online in a single day and a 22% increase from the amount spent last year. “While last year saw Cyber Monday rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year for the first time ever, it will be interesting to watch the next couple of weeks to see if any future individual days in 2011 manage to leapfrog this year’s highest day-to-date,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said. 50.2% the money spent on Cyber Monday originated from a work computer, comScore noted. 43.2% of the Cyber Monday spending was attributed to users buying goods from home and U.S. consumers abroad spent 6.6% of the overall Cyber Monday total. ComScore’s study also found that $15 billion has been spent online for the holiday-season-to-date, a 15% increase from the same time period last year. In comparison to Cyber Monday, $479 million was spent online on Thanksgiving Day, $816 million was spent on Black Friday and just over $1 billion was spent during the holiday weekend. ComScore’s full press release follows after the break. More →
Early reports from three separate firms suggest that Black Friday retail sales set a new record in 2011. Online sales growth was massive according to estimates from both IBM and comScore; the former reported on Saturday that online Black Friday sales grew 24.3% over 2010 and total Black Friday spending rose 39.3% over last year. Meanwhile, comScore’s data shows that online spending this past Friday grew 26% from Black Friday 2010 to $816 million. Offline, market research firm ShopperTrak said retail foot traffic rose 5.1% year-over-year on Black Friday 2011, and spending was up 6.6% to a record $11.4 billion. “This is the largest year-over-year gain in ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate for Black Friday since the 8.3 percent increase we saw between 2007 and 2006,” ShopperTrak CEO Bill Martin said in a statement. “Still, it’s just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season.” Press releases from both IBM and comScore follow below. More →
Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet has been a big seller for the online retailer so far, maintaining the top spot on the Amazon.com best-sellers list for eight weeks running. Despite the slate’s already low price tag, at least two retailers are offering deep discounts on the new tablet at a number of physical locations. Both Walmart and Target have been selling the Kindle Fire for just $123 over the holiday weekend, and some stores may have extended the sale pricing into Monday. Several forum users on Slickdeals also say they have been able to get their local Best Buy and Staples retailer stores to match the sale pricing. The Kindle Fire sale has not been advertised, however, so some retailers will not match the special offer.
UPDATE: Several readers have contacted us claiming the $123 pricing is fake. BGR has not yet been able to confirm these claims. More →
Strong demand for Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet and the continued popularity of Kindle eReaders lead to the retail giant’s best-ever Black Friday for the Kindle family of products. Amazon on Monday announced that sales of Kindle devices on Black Friday quadrupled last year’s sales, setting a new record. The company neglected to report sales figures, however it did say it sold millions of new Kindle eReaders and Kindle Fire tablets combined before the Black Friday shopping weekend began. ”Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we’d already sold millions of the new Kindle family and Kindle Fire was the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com,” said Amazon VP Dave Limp in a statement. “Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family – customers purchased 4X as many Kindle devices as they did last Black Friday – and last year was a great year. In addition, we’re seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles – one for themselves and others as gifts – we expect this trend to continue on Cyber Monday and through the holiday shopping season.” Amazon also noted that the Kindle Fire tablet, which BGR reviewed earlier this month, has now been Amazon’s best-selling product for eight weeks running. The company’s full press release follows below. More →
