Black Friday shopping at physical stores saw a 4.2% increase in sales compared to 2018, according to First Data Insights. The Black Friday 2019 SpendTrend Holiday Snapshot from First Data, now Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, showed that consumers were willing to travel for a deal, with a quarter of shoppers traveling more than 25 miles to visit a physical store on Black Friday. At the same time, spending via mobile wallets increased more than 80%, as consumers continue adopting new payment methods.

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A comprehensive overview of consumer spending for Black Friday 2019, the SpendTrend Holiday Snapshot analyzes aggregate sales data across more than one million brick-and-mortar merchant locations, spanning all major retail verticals.

Highlights for 2019 include:

• Black Friday brick-and-mortar sales were up 4.2%, with the greatest increase over normal shopping activity seen across electronics and appliances, sporting goods, and clothing/shoe stores. Electronics and appliance stores saw the largest average ticket size at $214 per transaction.
• New York, Los Angeles and Chicago had the greatest increase in sales volume compared to a typical Friday in those cities. Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Raleigh experienced the smallest increase in sales volume compared to a typical Friday.
• Consumers started their Black Friday shopping trips with breakfast, with restaurants posting their highest transactions per minute at 9 a.m. local time. Consumers also shopped at specialty retailers early, with activity peaking at 10 a.m. at places like jewelry stores, cosmetics stores and boutiques.
• Shoppers demonstrated their propensity to travel for a good deal, with 38% traveling more than 10 miles, and 25% traveling more than 25 miles to shop at a physical store.
• When paying with a card, consumers chose credit. Fifty-seven percent of card-based spending was via credit card, compared to 43% for debit. Spending via mobile wallets was up 82% compared to 2018.

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“Despite the evolution in consumer shopping habits, Black Friday remains an important bellwether for the holiday season,” said Devin McGranahan, executive vice president and senior group president, Fiserv. “In 2019, consumers showed their willingness to travel for a good deal, and blended their physical shopping with digital payments via mobile wallets.”

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