The Christmas shopping season started with the “Black Friday” rush in the U.S.

Crowds of consumers stormed the major U.S. stores on Thursday evening and Friday dawn despite the cold weather, despite the boycott calls of the traditionalist groups and despite the expanding online ordering options on the “Black Friday”, which traditionally the season starter of the Christmas gift buying season.

The U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that during this year's four-day Thanksgiving weekend, 140 million people will go shopping. 33 million people of them have started the hunting for discounted goods on Thursday. The U.S. department stores achieve 20 to 40 percent of their annual turnover in this time of the year. The number of purchases increased by 3.5 percent last year, and the NRF expects a a 3.9 percent expansion for this year. (Pogár Demeter, MTI)