Today’s a serious shopping day for serious shoppers.

Black Friday is no longer a sport for the leisurely shopper. From our late-night rounds, it became clear that people were lining up all over in the dead of night (and some earlier than that!) not just for the fun of it but out of necessity.

While many of the stoutest shoppers were grimly determined to get their deals and get out, there was some fun and holiday cheer.

At a Best Buy in Springfield, Pennsylvania at midnight, the 50 people in line created an atmosphere part football tailgate and part Department of Motor Vehicle tension. A card table was set up near the end of the line, but the reception on that end was quite frosty, possibly “enhanced” by the consumption of cheap beer.

But for the most part, the deals were the thing.

Take Nate Bryan of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, who arrived at 2:30 am EST this year to get a laptop for his daughter.

“It’s normally $1,000 and now cut in half. That $500 can go to other things,” he said.

Laptops and big ticket items are favorites of this day, but they are not the only items.

Debbie Techac, who works as a cashier at a supermarket, had waited for more than 12 hours outside a Best Buy in central Phoenix to buy a heavily discounted Dyson vacuum cleaner reduced to $329 from $549, two laptops — one of them a Sony — and some DVDs. She expected to buy the laptops for $200-$300.

While many shoppers are looking to scale back spending, some of our early risers had other plans.

Techac said she was spending about the same as last year, and felt fairly optimistic both about her own job security, and the outlook for the wider economy.

“I have job security. I work at Fry’s. It’s a grocery store, everybody has to eat … I think (the economy) is going to get better, I hope.”

Lou McAnany, a college student in Phoenix, was playing Monopoly on the sidewalk with his girlfriend to pass the time waiting for Best Buy to open. “I’m playing with fake money, wishing it were real,” he said with a chuckle.

McAnany was lining up to buy a 40-inch LCD television, although he was not yet sure what brand or model, paying around $300, with savings of around $400, as well as an iPod and a Nintendo Wii.

“I’m happy with the discounts, I wouldn’t be standing out all night if I weren’t. It seems like they are better than last year.”

So, with all this buying, everyone will get something, right?

Well…

“Anybody old enough to get a job,” is being cut off this year’s Christmas list said Ayanna Brown, a 34-year-old Brooklyn resident who worked as a bookkeeper at a legal firm but lost her job last year, is now back in school and will graduate in June.

“Around Christmas you have to splurge on the kids, so the grown-ups understand.”

How has your Black Friday been? Any fantastic deals you want to share? What’s Number One on your wish list?

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(Additional reporting by Phil Wahba, Tom Hals and Tim Gaynor)

(Reuters photos)

Attention all eaters (and shoppers)!  
    
Today, as the scent of turkey and spice wafts through your cozy abode ahead of the big meal, you may feel frustrated that your natural instinct to hunt and gather — remember our forefathers? — is thwarted by store opening hours. 
    
But never fear! You don’t have to wait for the stroke of midnight, when many retailers will open wide their doors. Assuage your instincts now by clicking on Reuters’ selection of holiday shopping stories, from women shoppers finally buying for themselves to food donations by Wal-Mart. Or how about a look at retailers vying for more full-price sales, or social media providing a boost to sales.
    
Reuters will be sending its reporters across the country to visit stores, interview shoppers and retailers throughout the long weekend, providing an advance look for investors, and shoppers, of how the crucial holiday sales season is shaping up.

(Reuters photo)

For some of Japan's retailers trying to jumpstart consumer spending, setting prices is like doing the limbo: How low can they go?

Japanese retailers reported mostly dismal first-half earnings results, with the industry stuck in a slump as shoppers remain reluctant to open their wallets even as the economy emerges from recession.

With no sales pick-up in sight, stores seem to have no choice but to continue their race to undercut rivals, with prices dropping for everything from cars to clothes to milk.

On the surface it sounds like a shopper's paradise: Who wouldn't mind paying less than 1,000 yen ($11) for a pair of jeans?

But it could also lead to a deflationary spiral in which consumers put off spending in hopes of further falls in prices.

And what's more, these price cuts are slicing into already razor-thin profits at companies, which are then forced to pass on the pain to employees in the form of lower paychecks.

"It's a death march," said Junji Ueda, CEO of FamilyMart, Japan's No. 3 convenience store chain.

"Manufacturers and transportation companies can't make profits, and retail workers can't get pay rises, or even worse, deflation will get to the point where they can't keep their jobs."

But some retail managers say price cuts are not hurting their businesses and there is room for even more markdowns.

"Some say we are cutting prices at the expense of profits, but such an argument is groundless. The problem is how to control inventory efficiency," said Motoya Okada, president of Japan's No. 2 retailing group Aeon Co Ltd, which runs the Jusco chain of supermarkets.

"Some wonder how we can sell jeans at 880 yen, but at the same time, there are many who think they are still expensive.  Recently, I visited Vietnam and was surprised to see items better than ours are sold at half our prices."

Tadashi Yanai, CEO of Fast Retailing, maintains rivals' efforts to undercut each other are self-destructive, although the firm's casual-clothing chain Uniqlo is seen by some as one of the very culprits for fanning the deflationary trend with ultra-cheap apparel.

Fast Retailing is among the few Japanese retailers that have reported robust profit growth,  buoyed by strong sales at the Uniqlo stores.

"Our 990 yen jeans created value, but those that followed, like the ones for 880 yen and 850 yen, -- I guess jeans will be sold for free eventually -- did not produce value at all. I think our rivals will end up hurting themselves through such moves," Yanai said.

I am a bargain hunter and always happy to pay less, but I'm just hoping my salary doesn't decline like the prices of the goods in my shopping cart.

Photo credits: REUTERS/Issei Kato

Check Out home-related retailers Sears Holdings and Williams-Sonoma reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Does this mean consumers are feathering their nests again?

Somewhat, according to Barclays analyst Michael Lasser, who said Williams-Sonoma’s results were “an indication that upper-income consumers are spending a bit more, which is not surprising given the rally in the stock market and the stabilization in the housing market.”

Williams-Sonoma, which also operates Pottery Barn and West Elm, has updated its styles and slashed prices on some items to woo shoppers, despite worries that the move might tarnish its image as a high-end retailer.

But it’s not only high-end chains showing signs of life. Kmart, the value-priced retailer that sells everything from appliances to clothing, posted its first increase in same-store sales since 2005, and only its second since 2001. The chain, which is owned by Sears, took back its shoe operations this year from Footstar, which had operated within Kmart stores.

Even Sears, which depends more heavily on the housing market due to its Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances, posted its best performance since the fourth quarter of 2007, and outperformed competing home improvement chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s.

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(Photo: Reuters)

Lean inventory may be the secret weapon that retailers are depending on to survive the holiday season with earnings intact.

But consumers don’t exactly seem to be quaking in their boots at the prospects of finding empty racks this Christmas season.

According to the ICSC, with 18 days until Black Friday and 46 shopping days until Christmas, the consumer appears “unfazed” by reports of retailers running low on inventory.

The ICSC and Goldman Sachs’ 2009 Holiday Spending Survey found that 81 percent of consumers said lean inventories are not motivating them to shop earlier than in past seasons.

One culprit behind the nonchalance?  Gift cards.

According to the survey, 48 percent of holiday shoppers said that if they can not find the gift item they are looking for, they will buy a gift card.

“It is surprising that consumers are not willing to shop early for holiday gifts to get the best selection,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist.  “Bargains seemingly may matter more than selection for the consumer, which is why more consumers this year than in any recent time plan to shop on the day after Thanksgiving (16%) —which now should be dubbed Bargain Friday.”

(Photo: Reuters)

EBay, the online marketplace where shoppers can find anything from toys to cars to designer handbags, has launched a digital magazine. 
    
The magazine, www.theinsidesource.com, is geared to “inspired shoppers” and features stories based on what eBay’s millions of users are looking for, according to the publication.

It will feature articles, analysis and opinions from eBay shoppers and journalists. The site will also point to eBay’s most-watched and most-searched items.
 
“The Inside Source content will reflect what inspires us on eBay, from a profile of an art dealer discovering museum-quality pieces to a breakdown of the hottest trends in handbags,” said Managing Editor Meredith Barnett.
    
Perusal of the site revealed postings on a variety of topics, from Kim Kardashian’s style and cocktail rings for under $30 to Jane Birkin’s kitchen and items made of hemp.     
    
The magazine is part of the company’s recent marketing efforts to reenergize its marketplaces business, which competes with a host of e-commerce rivals, including Amazon.com.

(Photo: Screenshot of www.theinsidesource.com)

Check out who is shopping early for Christmas.
 
U.S. consumer are, according to a new Accenture survey, which showed that 69 percent of shoppers plan to do the bulk of their holiday shopping by Dec. 7.  That’s up from 60 percent a year earlier.
 
More than half (52 percent), plan to shop on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), up from 42 percent last year.
 
The game of chicken between retailers and shoppers over discounts may be more intense this year after retailers had to practically give the store away in 2008 to clear inventory in the middle of the recession.
 
The vast majority of consumers (86 percent) will not be moved to buy without a discount of at least 20 percent, and a quarter of shoppers will be looking for an aggressive 50 percent discount before they open their wallets, the survey said.
 
“We have seen a ’shift to thrift’ across all income levels during this economic downturn and breaking that habit will be the greatest challenge for retailers this holiday season,” Janet Hoffman, managing director of Accenture’s Retail practice, said in a news release.
 
Gift cards may also come back, with 79 percent of people saying they will give them and 59 percent saying they really want them.
 
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(Reuters photo)

Check Out this slightly more optimistic holiday sales forecast.

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) said the 2009 U.S. holiday season is likely to be “a lot better” than last year, with sales rising roughly 1 to 2 percent.

The forecast, perhaps the most bullish yet, comes after a dismal 2008 holiday season that by some accounts was the worst in about 40 years.

Forecasts issued so far this year call for holiday sales to be flat to down versus last year, but some of those surveys use different methods for estimating sales.

The ICSC said holiday sales “in its many forms” — same store sales or total sales — could increase by about 1 percent to 2 percent, with sales at stores open at least one year rising 1 percent for the holiday shopping season of November and December.

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(Photo/Reuters)

Check Out the discount giant’s latest move.

Walmart.com announced that it added nearly one million new products to its online collection with the launch of Walmart Marketplace, which lets consumers buy items from a specific group of other retailers through its own website.

The move adds products and top brands in areas such as home goods, apparel, toys and baby items.

The world’s largest retailer’s current Marketplace retailers include shoes to toys company CSN Stores, online bag and luggage seller eBags and Pro Team, a licensed sports clothing and collectibles company.  The company said it plans to add more retailers over the next year.

Wal-Mart, with its “Save money. Live better” slogan, has benefited in the past year as consumers have turned to its cheaper prices in the recession.

For its latest online expansion, Wal-Mart said it picked specific retailers known for their assortment and customer service.  All purchases from Walmart Marketplace retailers will be managed through Walmart.com’s checkout process, though the retailers themselves will manage other services such as shipping, customer service and returns.

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(Photo/Reuters)

The indicators are there: people are saving more and they’re spending less.  The era of the savvy(er) shopper has officially arrived. But how long will it last?

Family financial guru Ellie Kay has been talking about smart shopping for years, publishing numerous books and maintaining a blog about how to shop smart. With the back-to-school shopping season running up against the recession, she’s been hearing a lot from her readers about how they’ve changed their buying habits.

“It’s not enough to run a sale, there has to be something extra that retailers are putting out there for the consumer to want to spend back-to-school dollars in their store,” she said. “That includes sales plus store coupons, or free gifts, or if they’re shopping online, they want free online shipping.”

Kay said it’s also not enough for retailers to have a value message anymore. With consumers surfing coupon websites like fatwallet.com and doubling up on store coupons, she said retailers have to work extra hard to get consumer’s attention.

“I do see the trend shifting to implement the use of social media sites–the use of tweeting and Facebook and soforth,” she said, pointing to consumer’s reactions to viral media campaigns such as Starbuck’s free pastry and free ice cream giveaways through Facebook. “When there’s a really good deal out there that’s working that people are going to want to take advantage of, they’re going to start chatting about it.”

Indeed, the co-founder of RetailMeNot.com told Reuters that online coupons are taking on a life of their own as they get re-posted on blogs or on Facebook, while the CEO of Savings.com said retailers are already looking for ways to offer creative online deals for the upcoming Christmas shopping season.

Kay said the recession is leaving a lasting impression on consumers.

“I think a lot of them are going to smarten up, and be mindful that when they saw their college funds go away, they’re going to be very careful the next time around,” she said. “I think there will be good things that come out of this, especially to those who are hit hard by it.”

That goes for future generations of shoppers as well.

“It’s an incredible teaching opportunity for children to help them realize that what’s really important in life is not how many toys they have,” she said. “That’s a way to teach a generation that’s always had what they want how to live on a budget.”

(Additional reporting by Nicole Maestri)

(Photo: Reuters)