Mixed picture for retailers as US holiday season opens

American consumers still shopped but with more prudence than in recent years, according to surveys from the opening weekend of the year-end holiday season.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) said its survey of the "Black Friday" weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday showed shoppers spent an average of 372.57 dollars over the weekend, up 7.2 percent over last year's levels.

The survey showed more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites, up from 147 million shoppers last year.

The retail group continues to project that holiday sales will rise 2.2 percent this year to 470.4 billion dollars.

"Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season's hottest items, helped drive shopping all weekend," said NRF president Tracy Mullin.

"Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again."

Other reports suggest a grimmer picture for the year-end season, which is seen as a make-or-break period for many retailers and a key for the struggling US economy, which relies on consumer spending for 70 percent of activity.

A separate survey by ShopperTrak RCT showed Friday's retail sales excluding food, gasoline and restaurants increased 3.0 percent over 2007.

ShopperTrak said that Black Friday is not always the best indicator for holiday season performance, but that retailers should be cautiously optimistic as deep discounts drove consumers to spend despite economic pressures.

"Retailers truly experienced what we've dubbed the 'perfect storm' over the last few weeks, with the financial markets melting down, the presidential election which typically slows retail traffic and relatively high gasoline prices -- all of which slowed both retail traffic and spending," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak.

"Under these circumstances, to start off the season in this fashion is truly amazing and is a testament to the resiliency of the American consumer, and undeniably proves a willingness to spend."

A note of caution however came from Howard Tubin, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, saying that the heavy discounts from Black Friday may have drawn bargain hunters but that the outlook remains cloudy.

"Shoppers appeared to come out and spend on the Friday following Thanksgiving," he said.

"However, and unlike in prior years, we do not think that Friday's momentum carried over into Saturday. We toured two malls in New Jersey and didn't notice crowds or customer traffic to be significantly different than on an average Saturday at either of the centers."