11/30/09 Stockholm, Sweden – In a stunning change of consumer behavior, America’s Research Group found that shoppers stuck to cash on Black Friday. Only 26 percent of shoppers chose to use credit cards, while 35 and 39 percent used debit cards and cash, respectively.
According to Reuters, “Consumers shunning credit cards is a bad sign for retailers, since people who buy gifts with a credit card tend to spend anywhere from 20 to 40 percent more on the gift…
“Data from the survey of 680 people was in line with results from the National Retail Federation which showed more traffic in stores and on websites over the Thanksgiving weekend, but less spending per person.”
Americans seem be taking debt burdens more seriously in this troubled economy and are showing it by reining in debt-fueled consumption. More details are available from Reuters in its coverage of how cash was king for holiday shoppers.
Rocky Vega
Rocky Vega is publisher of Agora Financial International, where he advances the growth of Agora Financial publishing enterprises outside of the US. Previously, he was publisher of The Daily Reckoning, and founding publisher of both UrbanTurf and RFID Update -- which he ran from Brazil, Chile, and Puerto Rico -- as well as associate publisher of FierceFinance. Rocky has an honors MS from the Stockholm School of Economics and an honors BA from Harvard University, where he served on the board of directors for Let’s Go Publications, Harvard Student Agencies, and The Harvard Advocate.
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