A decline in sales over the Black Friday weekend has dropped 11% year after year. The shift in the shopping experience has changed as shoppers are spending their money over an extended holiday period. As holiday promotions are offered earlier in the season and a decrease of importance of Black Friday shopping also effected the decline of sales. But this will not effect the overall increase of spending to 4.1% over the holiday season. Another reason for this increase is the improvement of the economy. All of these factors indicate an “evolutionary change” in the holiday shopping in the years ahead, said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.