An early report shows shoppers spent more than last year on Black Friday but not by much.

A Chicago research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 stores says shoppers spent about $10.66-billion Friday. That's only 0.5% more than last year.

While people may not have been hitting the malls as much this year, early signs point to stronger online sales during the traditional holiday shopping kick off.

One web marketing analyst says the average amount online shoppers spent on Black Friday rose by an impressive 35%.