Number of Black Friday shoppers up while Spending Goes Down

Black Friday weekend shoppers were out in full force, but this year they were more careful about spending their money this year.
Ashley Cimino,

CHARLOTTE, NC (CNN Money) – Black Friday weekend shoppers were out in full force, but this year they were more careful about spending their money this year.

The National Retail Federation says more than 154 million people shopped. That’s up 3 million from last year. But – each shopper spent about 10 bucks less because of the better discounts.

The deals continue today with Cyber Monday. For the first time – shoppers are expected to spend more today than on Black Friday. They’re predicted to spend a little over 3 billion dollars.

Amazon has unveiled some of its deals for Cyber Monday. The online retailer will roll out more than 75,000 sales starting Monday and throughout the week on a variety of products, including toys, electronics, video games and books.

While electronics tend to be big sellers on Cyber Monday, Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) said that so far this holiday season, the “most-watched deal” has been the Mermaid Tail Blanket.
Amazon’s own products will also be on sale: The voice-controlled Echo speaker will be priced at $139.99 and the Tap Bluetooth speaker will be $89.99. Both sale prices match what the company offered as part of its Black Friday sales.

Cyber Monday is a big sales day for Amazon. Last year, shoppers ordered more than 54 million items — 629 per second — on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Amazon Prime members, who pay $99 a year, will get early access to Lightning Deals. There will also be specific deals for shoppers using Alexa, the voice assistant in Echo.