(New York) Some 200 million Americans made purchases during the so-called “Black Friday” discount period, the height of shopping in the United States, a record, the Retail Federation (NRF) announced on Tuesday ).

This figure, a small increase of 1.9% in attendance compared to 2022, when the NRF expected a decline (-7.4%), is a sign of “consumer resilience”, according to the federation , in an economy that is showing signs of running out of steam.

The period considered goes from the Thanksgiving holiday (Thursday) to “Cyber ​​Monday”, the following Monday, now a traditional online promotional day, through “Black Friday” itself, Friday.

Consumers spent, on average, $321 each, according to the NRF, which would bring the total to more than $60 billion, a figure that the federation, contacted by AFP, refused to confirm.

The president of the NRF, Matthew Shay, notably attributed the success of this sequence to promotions granted by merchants as well as favorable weather.

“Consumption has moderated compared to the last three years,” which saw a rush of purchases after the first months of the pandemic, the official acknowledged.

But “consumers are still strong and we expect that to play into the holiday season,” Matthew Shay said.

The NRF expects spending to increase by 3 to 4 percent for the period from early November to late December.

In detail, during the five days of the Thanksgiving period, 121.4 million people physically visited a point of sale (-1%), which is less than the 134.2 million American residents who made online purchases (3%), some having used both options.

Notably, transactions carried out on a smartphone or connected device have decreased significantly (-11%) year-over-year.

The five most popular types of items were clothing (49% of buyers), toys (31%), gift cards (25%), books, video games and other media (23%), then hygiene and beauty products (23%).