Multiple surveys that have forecast the sales for Black Friday are predicting that shoppers will turn out in larger numbers this weekend than was the case last year. Black Friday will be an unofficial holiday spending season launch.

A Deloitte survey released in Chicago indicated that 60% of respondents said that they planned to do online shopping or go to stores during the weekend. This is up from last year’s figures that stood at 51%. Of those respondents who planned to go shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, those who said that they would go to stores particularly on Black Friday were 63%. Last year figures stood at 17% for those who would actually visit stores on Thanksgiving Day as compared to figures for this year, which stood at 23%.

Further, holiday weekend shoppers who will go the online way on Black Friday are 46%, and 26% plan online shopping on Thanksgiving Day and 44% online shopping on Cyber Monday.

In another survey released by WSL/Strategic Retail, one third of customers were of the opinion that Black Friday was the best day to take advantage of holiday sales. Approximately 67% of respondents believed that one could get better sales offers online, as well as Cyber Monday. A good 78% said that crowds had become crazy.

The firm’s CEO has acknowledged that the day is sort of an annual ritual for many and it marks the beginning of the great holiday season. Wendy Liebmann took note of the intense excitement that accompanied hunting down the hot items on offer, picking personal special gifts and getting to the stores early that would often overshadow promises of low prices.