Retailers in the US have begun Black Friday by filling stores with sale goods and listing advertisements in Thanksgiving Day newspapers in order to attract customers and revive business.

Crowds of customers looking to get their favorite deal lined outside stores on Thursday night as retailers looked to welcome shoppers. Meanwhile, online shopping is believed to have attracted a great number of shoppers as well, some even blaming web pages for keeping customers away from brick and mortar stores.

Several items that were purchased in stores are now being bought on the internet by customers across the country as they seek discount deals online and their e-mail inbox. Moody's has said that the online spending is expected to increase about 15 percent as customers find it easy to shop online and find good deals on the internet.

Retailers have been preparing for Black Friday to offset slowdown in consumer spending in recent quarters. Aggressive discount deals are being offered to lure in customers into the stores. However, surveys suggest that a majority of shoppers in the US will be stay at home to look for attractive online deals on Black Friday instead of going to stores.