BRIEF: Black Friday shopping takes a turn to online

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Jason Kanetakis, Editor-In-Chief

There are two stories to tell from this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. Foot traffic was down 1.7 percent in traditional stores while on the other side of the fence, online sales erupted with a 23.7 percent increase in year-to-year sales.

There are many reasons that contribute to the decline of crowds in traditional stores, only one of which is the increasing appeal of online stores. Business Insider cites deals kicking off earlier than ever as another reason for the decreasing physical sales.

Meanwhile, online retailers like Amazon have just reported that sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday have broken records. Amazon fulfilled over 180 million orders during the weekend, representing $7.9 billion in sales.

It is also important to note that the U.S. is boasting a strong economy, for the time being anyway, sparking even more spending for the average American.