Black Friday spending reaches average of $289 per person

The National Retail Federation in the United States has revealed that shoppers in the country spent an average of $289.19 over the Thanksgiving weekend as part of the Black Friday shopping days.

That figure was down slightly from last year's high of $299.60, with an average of $214.13 of that specifically going towards gifts.

Black Friday began in the US decades ago as a way of signalling the beginning of the Christmas shopping period, and has now spread into a worldwide frenzy of spending, with most retailers offering huge discounts on everything from online music to televisions.

"It was a strong weekend for retailers, but an even better weekend for consumers, who took advantage of some really incredible deals," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "In fact, over one third of shoppers said 100% of their purchases were on sale."

The research also shows a clear preference for shopping online, with 44% of purchases being made digitally, in comparison with 40% in the shop.

Interestingly, less people than 2015 say that with the end of the weekend that their Christmas shopping is now finished for the year, with only 9% having bought all their gifts already.

"With mid-season shopping behind us, it's not too late for retailers to tweak their online and in-store strategies to help increase traffic and see a big payoff during the last few weeks of the holiday season," Shay added.

Analysts at Jefferies said UGG and Gap were two companies which performed well on the annual shopping day.

"Overall, traffic trends appeared healthy, with strength at UGG and Gap the biggest upside surprises. Handbag retailers were the most disappointing, as both KORS and COH saw relatively muted traffic," said analyst Randal Konik.