"Black Friday" websites draw early attention

Traffic to Black Friday advertising website is increasing at a faster rate than it did in 2006. According to a report from Hitwise, traffic increased 52% year over year.

by Kristina Knight

Black Friday websites aren't the only early gainers. Hitwise reports that "Black Friday" search queries have also increased from 2006 numbers; searches for "black Friday ads" increased more than 90% from 2006 to 2007 and have increased more than 900% since 2005.

Why the early trend of consumers looking for Black Friday deals?

"Consumers are becoming increasingly more knowledgeable about the availability of Black Friday promotions online and are actively seeking out the websites which offer the advertisements before public release," said Heather Dougherty, director of research at Hitwise. ". . .[S]hoppers are well-aware of the leaked promotions and are able to plan their Black Friday purchases before Thanksgiving arrives."

With Black Friday - the Friday after Thanksgiving - being the official opening of the holiday shopping season in the US, it appears that consumers are readying for the best holiday shopping deals.

Visits to websites in the Hitwise U.S. Retail 100 Index have increased 7% (in traffic) according to the report. Amazon.com is the most visited ecommerce site, accounting for 11% of visits to the Index. Wal-Mart.com is next with 6% of Index visits and Target.com received 4% of Index visits. Meanwhile Overstock.com was the biggest gainer for the Index with an 18% gain in traffic.