Sears Reports Thanksgiving, Black Friday Trends and Insights

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Nov. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrated shopping trends have ruled the day – and night – as Shop Your Way members and customers took advantage of more options to get doorbuster savings at Sears for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday 2013.

Black Friday kicked off one full week early for Sears Shop Your Way members who were able to purchase more than 1,000 Sears doorbusters in advance online. Members are also earning better rewards this season with the holiday bonus for Sears cardholders – Shop Your Way members earn 10 percent back in reward points to use during the holiday season on all purchases made with a Sears credit card or 3 percent back in reward points when using any other form of payment.

Sears also announced another round of Black Friday doorbusters from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday while supplies last, extending the savings opportunities throughout the weekend on top brands and exclusive items that make great gifts. Highlights from today's Black Friday activity include:

Extended Hours, Foot Traffic Feedback

• Sears opened its doors at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving and will be open 26 hours straight through Black Friday. Members and customers across the country reacted positively to the Thanksgiving opening.
• Lines grew rapidly in the hour before the doors opened as excited shoppers waited to get their hands on the more than 1,000 doorbuster deals that were available until 1 p.m. (local time) on Friday, Nov. 29.
• Shop Your Way was integral to the shopping experience with members using the Shop Your Way mobile app to enter a sweepstakes to win one million points. Members were widely observed using the app to "Shop'In" and load coupons to their phone like 10 percent off an apparel purchase of $40 or more – all while standing in line. Members also used their smart phones to check member pricing and opt for ereceipts for faster checkout – 70% of sales are now made by Shop Your Way members.
• A big trend this year has been customers buying doorbusters online and picking up in-store both on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. In fact, Sears recently reported that in Q3, online and multi-channel sales increased 17% over the prior year.
• Lines of 500 or more members and customers just before opening last night were common at Sears stores nationwide, with some locations reporting nearly 1,000 shoppers queued up. Overall, shoppers were in good spirits, despite the chill in the Midwest and Northeast regions, and stores received praise for their orderly system of handling the doorbusters.

Hottest Selling Gifts

At stores across the country Shop Your Way members shared their excitement about earning and redeeming rewards points on popular products from Sears, like:

• Cool and colorful electronics accessories like the Nakamichi 890 High Performance Headphones for just $12, and the Kenmore Dutch Oven ($39.99, regularly $79.99) in a variety of colors were extremely popular.
• For those looking for gifts with brains and brawn, popular items included Craftsman® Bolt-On™ 20 Volt MAX* Lithium Ion Drill for half off ($59.99, regularly $119.99). Plus, Kenmore 25 cu. ft. French Door Bottom Freezer Refrigerator Stainless Steel ENERGY STAR® was a sought-after Sears Super Buy at 50 percent off ($1299.99, regularly $2599.99.).
• Diamond jewelry was another hot gift this year for those looking to add some shimmer and shine to their shopping bags – Sears offered deals up to 75 percent off.
• Gifts for families on-the-go were a hit this year, like the Motovox Mini Bike for kids ($279.99, regularly $399.99) and Legendary Roadhandler Tires.
• Shoppers also took advantage of half-off on holiday decor to trim the home.
• Other coveted items included fit and fab gifts like the Bulova® Precisionist Sport watch at up to 30 percent off for men. Members and customers shopped more than 1,000 styles and fits from the Sears Jean Scene including popular brands like the Kardashian Kollection ($21.99, regularly $58.00).

Spirit of the Season

• Feedback from Sears store managers nationwide was that many shoppers who chose to come out on Thanksgiving night did so to be a part of a new tradition. Group shopping with clusters of friends and families who went right from the dinner table to the mall was common. Said one store manager at a Sears in Staten Island, N.Y.: "Looking around our store at 1 a.m. you would have thought it was 2 p.m. on the Saturday before Christmas."
• Associates equipped with mobile check-out devices brightened the spirits for shoppers looking for inventory, sizes and pricing, product reviews and helping them avoid long check-out lines by ringing them up on-the-spot.
• In a sign of the times, a store manager at a Sears in Los Cerritos, Calif. shared that in years past shoppers would ask for assistance referring to a Sears circular in their hands – this year more members have stopped her with smart phones in-hand, referring to products they've found on the Shop Your Way app or Sears mobile app.

For additional media materials and information please contact the Sears holiday media hotline at (312) 527-2742 to arrange an interview or in-store filming.

About Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a leading broadline retailer providing merchandise and related services and is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn Points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through ShopYourWay.com. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through its Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the United States and Canada. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com, and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands' End -- among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S.  The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 15 million service and installation calls made annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com.

SOURCE Sears, Roebuck and Co.