ABJ - Nov 24 - Though there are already plenty of great deals on everything from e-readers and smartphones to apparel and toys, Americans know there is only one Black Friday-and the best is yet to come. According to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, reported by National Retail Federation (NRF), up to 152 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), higher than the 138 million people who planned to do so last year. According to the survey, 74 million people say they will definitely hit the stores and another 77 million are waiting to see if the bargains are worth braving the cold and the crowds.

"Though many retailers are already touting select Black Friday ads, there's no doubt we'll all be blown away by what retailers still have in their bag of tricks for shoppers," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "We fully expect to see excited shoppers as early as midnight at stores around the country, as many holiday shoppers would rather stay up all night to take advantage of retailers' Black Friday deals rather than set their alarm to wake up the next morning."

For the first time, NRF asked shoppers how they plan to keep track of retailers' holiday sales and promotions announcements. Half (50.5 per cent) will keep up with advertising throughout the holiday season and nearly one-third (31.7 per cent) said they will tune in to watch retailers' holiday commercials. Additionally, nearly one-quarter (23.1 per cent) will seek out coupon websites and 32.3 per cent will specifically keep track of the email coupons they receive from retailers.

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