Shoppers flock into stores ahead of Black Friday

<p>Stores across the United States opened their doors early on Thursday ahead of the traditional Black Friday shopping day when thousands line up for bargains. The average shopper will spend over $1000 this holiday season, a total of possibly $721 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.</p><p>Retailers, like JCPenney and Best Buy were preparing for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Millions of shoppers were expected to flood brick and mortar stores, according to Adobe Analytics.</p><p>Thanksgiving online sales in the United States are expected to reach a record 3.5 billion U.S. dollars, up about 20 percent from last year, according to newest data from Adobe, which tracks and analyzes online sales.</p><p>Adobe also forecasted retail e-commerce and mobile commerce totals of 5.9 billion dollars on Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving Day, and 7.8 billion dollars on Cyber Monday, the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday.</p><p><span style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191);">(Video source: Reuters via VCG)</span></p>