Macy's plans to hire 7,000 seasonal workers after 'great start' to holiday trading

US department store chain Macy's announced on Friday that it would be hiring 7,000 additional seasonal employees at its stores after a "great start" to the holiday trading period.

"Macy's has had a great start to this holiday season with high customer volume across our business," John Harper, chief stores officer, said.

"Due to the strong traffic in our stores, we are adding associates in our stores across the country to ensure that customers continue to receive the high level of service they have come to expect from us," he added.

According to data from the National Retail Federation, holiday shopping kicked off with a bang as 174m people made an average purchase of $355.47 online and in store over America's Thanksgiving long weekend, smashing forecasts of 164m.

However, reports began to surface on social media later in that day that Macy's had experienced significant credit card payment glitches on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, raining on the parades of investors.

As of 1655 GMT, Macy's shares had dropped 0.59% to $23.66 each.