每年感恩節的第二天通常是美國度假購物季開始的日子，在經濟危機重壓下剛剛緩過些氣的消費者可能會在商家大幅折扣的吸引下蜂擁而至，不過他們會否放開消費卻尚待考證。商家和購物網站早早就公布了今年購物季的促銷計劃，希望在幾十年來最慘淡購物季之后，對平板電視、玩具及其他商品的需求能夠有所刺激。美國零售業聯合會預計今年購物季的銷售額可能會下降1％，而國際購物中心協會則預測今年的銷售額會上升1-2％。有專業人士表示，雖然目前經濟仍然疲軟，失業率也還在上升，但是零售市場在過去幾個月中正在趨于穩定，人們有理由相信在即將到來的購物季，這樣的穩定性也會有所表現。

When the U.S. holiday shopping season kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving, retailers can expect to see millions of less frightened, but even more bargain-hungry customers cross their thresholds.

When the U.S. holiday shopping season kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving, retailers can expect to see millions of less frightened, but even more bargain-hungry customers cross their thresholds.

Industry experts expect a strong turnout on Black Friday, which falls on November 27 this year, as deep discounts lure shoppers after more than a year of subdued spending. But they caution it will not mean a bumper holiday season in the weeks leading up to Christmas since consumers still remain cautious.

"Given what we know about consumer shopping patterns, even this month, I would suspect it will turn out to be a very strong performance," said Michael Niemira, chief economist of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Special promotion days have been big drivers of sales, he said, pointing to the lift retailers saw on the November 11 Veteran's Day holiday.

Retailers and websites dedicated to Black Friday deals have leaked sales plans earlier than usual, in the hopes of sparking demand for flat-panel televisions, toys and other goods after 2008's worst holiday season in decades.

While the economy remains weak and unemployment has risen, U.S. shoppers have had more than a year to adjust their spending and digest the bad news. In 2008, holiday shopping started just weeks after the global financial crisis erupted.

"Certainly last year was a year of tremendous uncertainty going into Black Friday because we were right in the middle of the storm," said Chris Donnelly, a partner in Accenture's retail practice. "There is much less panic, I would say, or much less uncertainty, as we go into the season."

Even so, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday last year, up from 147 million in 2007, according to the National Retail Federation. The average amount of money spent by shoppers over that weekend rose 7.2 percent to $372.57 per person.

Those numbers, however, did not prevent a sales slide of 3.4 percent for the entire shopping season last year, marking the first decline since the NRF began tracking such data.

While the NRF has not issued a Black Friday forecast, it expects 2009 holiday season sales to decline 1 percent. The ICSC forecast a 1 percent to 2 percent rise.

"Retail sales have been, while not stellar, somewhat stabilizing over the past few months and there is every reason to believe that as we go into the holiday season that we are going to see some stability as well," Donnelly said.

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(Agencies)

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）