Online Sales See Big Black Friday Gains At Wal-Mart, Target

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT and Target Corporation TGT said online sales on Thanksgiving Day were at or near record levels with much of the growth coming from customers shopping on mobile devices.

Target gained 2.6 percent recently to $74.05; Wal-Mart was up 3.6 percent to $88.02.

Target's online business on Thursday saw the number of orders and sales increase more than 40 percent over last year, making it the retailer's biggest online sales day ever. Target said a free shipping offer was driving online sales.

Wal-Mart's online sales on Thanksgiving amounted to its second-highest online sales day ever, topped only by Cyber Monday last year.

In the recent third quarter, Wal-Mart has said online sales grew 21 percent, while Target has said the figure grew more than 30 percent.

Most of Target's online growth in traffic and sales on Thursday came from mobile, with top-selling items including iPads, Nikon camera, headphones and vacuum cleaners.

The two companies also said sales were also strong at brick-and-mortar outlets in the on Thursday and the early hours of Black Friday, although neither offered hard numbers.

"We saw lines for tablets and TVs snaking throughout the stores," Wal-Mart's Senior Vice President of Merchandising Laura Philips said.

Wal-Mart said the top-five categories for in-store shoppers so far included tablets, TVs, sheets, children's apparel, and video gaming.

Disney "Frozen" Snow Glow Elsa dolls were one of the top-selling toys at Wal-Mart Thursday, the company said.

About 20 percent of parents plan to buy the toy, according to a survey Friday by the National Retailer Federation.

Target said top-selling items in its stores were in electronics and housewares

Wal-Mart cut its full-year earnings outlook on November 19 to between $4.92 and $5.02, from $4.90 to $5.15.

Target said November 19 it expects 2015 adjusted earnings of $3.15 to $3.25, compared with adjusted earnings of $3.51 a year earlier.