Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumers shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend spent 19 percent more than a year earlier, outpacing the advance of 2005, after retailers slashed prices to attract customers.

Consumers spent an average $360.15 from Nov. 23 through yesterday, up from $302.81 a year earlier, the National Retail Federation said yesterday in a statement. Fewer people shopped, with about 140 million making purchases during the four days including Thanksgiving, down from 145 million last year.

Best Buy Co. and Gap Inc. lured customers with $999 flat- panel televisions and $30 sweaters. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s deals failed to lift sales for November, the retailer's worst performance in a decade, prompting concerns that the industry's profit margins may fall amid the holiday season discounting.

``How much money can retailers be making on half-priced TVs?'' said Walter Todd, who helps manage $850 million at Greenwood Capital in Greenwood, South Carolina, including shares of Home Depot Inc. and Staples Inc. ``If the traffic doesn't come in and people don't buy some more expensive goods, margins might get tattooed this year.''

Sales on Nov. 24, called Black Friday because retailers once considered it the day they turned profitable for the year, rose 6 percent from last year to $8.96 billion, according to estimates by Chicago-based research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp.

Faster Growth

Weekend sales rose faster than a year earlier, when consumers each spent an average of 14 percent more than in 2004. U.S. consumer confidence is close to a 15-month high as gasoline prices drop and unemployment remains at a five-year low.

While weekend spending rose, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, said Nov. 25 that November sales at stores open more than a year fell 0.1 percent, missing the company's own forecast of unchanged sales. Wal-Mart shares fell $1.29, or 2.7 percent, to $46.61 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

``First Wal-Mart wanted to go upscale, now they're going back to cutting prices across the board,'' said Todd, who sold his Wal-Mart shares this year, concerned about slowing sales.

Federated Department Stores Inc. declined $1.27, or 3 percent, to $41.84, while Target Corp. fell 64 cents to $57.07.

Online shopping on Nov. 24 totaled $434 million, a 42 percent jump over last year, according to Reston, Virginia-based consulting firm ComScore Networks Inc. Consumers spent $8.31 billion this month through Nov. 24, a 23 percent increase over last year, ComScore said.

Forecast Intact

The NRF left unchanged its forecast for 5 percent sales growth in November and December to $457.4 billion.

About 33 percent of shoppers bought electronics over the weekend, including flat-panel television sets, Microsoft Corp.'s Zune digital music player and video-game consoles such as Nintendo Co.'s Wii, the NRF said.

Laura Brown, a 38-year-old nurse in Atlanta, bought a 42- inch Panasonic plasma TV for $1,000 at a Best Buy store the day after Thanksgiving. The set was marked down from $1,700 and was ``my gift to me,'' Brown said.

Computer engineer Daishi Yameda, 32, bought a $30 cashmere sweater for his girlfriend at Gap's Old Navy while visiting San Francisco.

`Shocking'

``It was shocking because people were only buying doorbusters,'' said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates. Employees with his New York-based consulting firm visited 50 retailers this weekend. ``You can't have people just come in and buy doorbusters and leave.''

Wal-Mart's Walmart.com site was working intermittently on Black Friday because of unexpectedly high traffic. The company posted Black Friday specials online on Thanksgiving Day and ran advertisements during football games to direct users to the site.

``All of the orders hit exactly to the minute at 5 a.m.,'' Walmart.com chief executive officer Carter Cast said today. ``Essentially, this was too much of a good thing.''

Amazon.com Inc. experienced a 15-minute slowdown Thanksgiving morning for promotional items such as a $100 Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360. The video game console sold out in 29 seconds, Amazon spokesman Craig Berman said.

More than 41 percent of consumers bought accessories or clothes over the weekend, the NRF said. At a Macy's in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, clothing by Jones Apparel Group Inc.'s Jones New York was 50 percent off, as were Nine West purses.

The NRF said 41 percent of shoppers purchased books, DVDs, CDs and video games, and 28 percent bought toys. The NRF's figures are based on a survey of 3,090 people, with a 1.5 percent margin of error.

Gift Cards

Educational toys drew Marisia Rivera, a nurse's assistant from Manhattan, to a Target store in Brooklyn at 4 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving to shop for her nieces and nephews. She planned to buy a Leapfrog Enterprises Inc. tablet that teaches math and phonics.

``They are going to play with Elmo for the first two weeks,'' said Rivera, 38. ``After that, it's under the couch.''

About 18 percent of shoppers bought gift cards over the weekend. Consumers plan to spend $24.8 billion on holiday gift cards this year, a 34 percent jump from last year, according to the NRF. Gift-card sales, which aren't counted as revenue until they're redeemed, may shift some spending into January.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 27, 2006 16:45 EST