NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Booming Black Friday sales didn't hold up over Thanksgiving weekend, marking a disappointing start to the holiday shopping season, according to an industry report Tuesday.
Total sales for Friday, Saturday and Sunday rose just 2.9 percent, according to the report from market research firm ShopperTrak.
While sales through Saturday increased 3.5 percent from the same period in 2003, sluggish sales on Sunday dragged the final tally for the weekend down, the report said. The long holiday weekend got off to a strong start with sales on Black Friday up 10.8 percent.
"Although Sunday was the weakest day of the Thanksgiving weekend, retailers shouldn't be too alarmed as this is a typical and traditional pattern from previous years," Michael Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers and an author of the ShopperTrak report, said in a statement.
"Additionally, there are two more shopping days this year than last, which may have caused soft Black Friday weekend sales as people wait longer to shop." Niemira added. "Nevertheless, after Friday's robust performance, these numbers are slightly weaker than industry analysts would have expected."
Additionally, ShopperTrak reported that sales for the week ending Nov. 27 rose 11.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, contradicting two other reports Tuesday that indicated sluggish sales for the week as a whole.
One reason for the discrepancy is that the ShopperTrak numbers tally total retail sales from store chains and not just sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales.
"Growth rates for total sales tend to be higher than same-store sales," Niemira said. "The other difference is that the ShopperTrak data is also adjusting for seasonal shopping patterns."
ShopperTrak monitors sales data from 30,000 merchants nationwide.
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