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Experts Predict Shoppers To Spend Big On Black Friday

(CBS) -- Shoppers may give retailers an early present this holiday shopping season. Experts are predicting that this Black Friday weekend will be the best one since before the recession hit eight years ago.

So, what's luring customers into stores this year? Dorothy Tucker takes a look.

Heidi O'Neill says she is already out Christmas shopping, "To get what my son wants before it's off the shelves."

Video games are at the top of her Christmas gift list.

Experts predict other hot sellers this year will be "Frozen" toys and upscale apparel including athletic wear from retailers like Lululemon.

"It's pieces that you can absolutely wear sitting across the Thanksgiving dinner table with your family and hitting the lakefront path for a run the next morning," said Lululemon community manager Nina Foley.

According to a recent Accenture survey, shoppers plan to spend an average of $718 on gifts this year.

Bill Martin with Chicago-based analytics firm ShopperTrak agrees that registers will be ringing for retailers.

"We're seeing historically low gas prices," Martin said. "We see the unemployment number is pretty good."

Even though shoppers seem willing to spend more, 96 percent plan to look for discounts.

Target's Black Friday ad features electronics deals on TVs and Beats headphones, offers that attract well-educated shoppers.

"Consumers have gravitated toward window shopping online," Martin said. "Now they determine what they want to buy and where they want to buy it."

It's shoppers like Ebony Day who do their research.

"I see who has the better sale," Day said. "I see who's offering me the gift cards as well because I do like those."

Experts say digital deals are also becoming more popular. Social media giant Twitter just launched Twitter Offers which gives you additional money back when you shop in certain stores.

"The consumer, as a result of that, is spending a little bit more time in the store and subsequently the transaction size is increasing," Martin said.

Another trend in 2014 is more people waiting later to wrap up their gift-buying.

ShopperTrak estimates the Saturday before Christmas will be the biggest shopping day this year.

You may not want to wait that long if another hot item, the iPhone 6, is on your special someone's wish list.

Believe it or not, according to Accenture, 45 percent of people plan to shop on Thanksgiving.

If you plan to shop tomorrow or Black Friday, WalletHub says the biggest average discounts can be found at JC Penney, Macy's, Meijer and Sears.

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