The most important weekend for American retailers appeared to have begun far better than expected, despite fears that the housing slowdown and subsequent credit crisis would keep would-be shoppers at home.

The Friday after Thanksgiving – known as Black Friday because it marks the point in the year when retailers move into the black – is seen as the beginning of the holiday shopping season. It is the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States, with consumers lured by the size of discounts on items such as electrical goods, clothing, furniture and toys. Typically, it accounts for about 5 per cent of all Christmas shopping.

ShopperTrak, the American customer traffic counter, estimated that sales on Friday were 8.3 per cent higher than for the same day last year. That preliminary figure exceeded forecasts by the National Retail Federation, which had pencilled in a rise of about 3.5 per cent – an increase that would have represented the worst rise in sales for five years.

Bill Martin, ShopperTrak’s co-founder, said: “Although retailers need to remain cautious, the Black Friday outpouring should have them breathing a sigh of relief and they will be paying close attention to see if consumers continue this strong shopping pace throughout the holiday season.”

The most severe housing recession for 16 years, a grim employment market and crude oil prices eyeing $100 a barrel have all underpinned the uncertain outlook for retailers. According to the University of Michigan, its consumer confidence index this month marked its lowest level since 1992, apart from a brief dip after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Wall Street will have to wait for retailers’ next quarterly results to ascertain how deeply they had to discount stock to stimulate sales. Macy’s, the world’s biggest department store chain, opened half an hour early, at 5.30am, on Friday.

Michael McNamara, of Mastercard Spending Pulse, which reports on national retail sales by compiling sales activity in the MasterCard payment network, is expecting sales for the run-up to Christmas to rise between 4 per cent and 4.5 per cent compared with the same 32-day period last year. That would still show a significant slowdown compared with retail performance two years ago when sales rose between 7 per cent and 8 per cent.

Mr McNamara said: “The West and East coasts will probably see a smaller growth rate than central parts of the country.” California has suffered one of the sharpest declines in property prices of all the states in the US, having experienced one of the biggest booms. In one town in Southern California – Stockton – one household in thirty-one fell into arrears last month, according to RealtyTrac.

Retailers are naming today Cyber Monday, forcecasting a surge in online sales from people returning to work after the Thanksgiving break. Com-score, which tracks online shopping, is predicting a 20 per cent increase in internet sales up to Christmas compared with the same period last year.

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