Although they certainly turned a few heads with their announcements, the retailers that made the decision to open their doors on Thanksgiving night to extend hours for consumers actually experienced many benefits from the move. These businesses saw boosts in revenue at their brick-and-mortar locations, slightly beating their competitors that waited longer to open.

Chain Store Age reports that a recent study by Moody's revealed that so far, holiday sales are on par with the credit rating firm's expectations of 4 percent retail sales growth for the season. The research noticed, however, that merchants that opened on Thanksgiving night saw more sales volumes than those that welcomed customers on Friday.

"Retailers that opened early seemed to get a jump on those that delayed their openings until early Black Friday morning," said Charlie O'Shea, senior analyst at Moody's. "We believe the early opening trend is accelerating. Consumers seem to like the option of segueing right from Thanksgiving dinner to shopping and buying."

Some of the retailers that opened on Thanksgiving night included Wal-Mart and Sears, with both companies beginning their Black Friday sales at 8 p.m., according to the Chicago Tribune.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Monday, December 3rd, 2012 at 4:24 am .