With the US election behind them, Americans headed to the malls for some retail therapy on Black Friday.<br /><br /> Traditionally one of the busiest shopping day of the year begins on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but many stores opened on Thursday to beat online sales.<br /><br /> It is big business, with November and December counting for as much as 40% of annual revenue in the retail industry.<br /><br /> According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), more than 137 million shoppers are expected to head to the tills over the four-day weekend, up from 135 million last year (based on a survey of shopping intentions). Last year sales figures after the Thanksgiving weekend fell by 11 % on 2014, however, the Commerce Department marked that sales were actual up by four per cent by the end of the holiday season.<br /><br /> Their chief economist said, ‘increased geopolitical uncertainty, the presidential election outcome and unseasonably warm weather’ could impact spending patterns in 2016.<br /><br /> The biggest demographic is those in the 18-34 age bracket. “Millennials continue to drive the trend of hitting the stores – both on their feet and online – as soon as the turkey is finished,” Prosper Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow said.<br /><br /> What began as a US tradition, has spread across the world with Black Friday deals making their way to Europe, Latin America, South Africa and New Zealand in recent years.<br />
