I was always excited about Black Friday. The day I wake up really early to get in line at my favorite stores before they open to get the best deals of the day. Plus being super early means you get the best parking spots too! I finish 95% of my Christmas shopping on this day. But this year, for the first time in ten years, I stayed home! I got turned off at stores who started opening the evening of Thanksgiving day. I feel sorry for the workers who have to leave their families to go to work. All for more profit.
The data below shows the potential number of shoppers over the Thanksgiving weekend according to the National Retail Federation. Black Friday still shows as the most popular day to shop. Based on NRF's analysis, the top reasons consumers are planning to shop include:
1) The deals are too good to pass up (65 percent)
2) Tradition (28 percent)
3) It's when they like to start their holiday shopping (22 percent)
4) It's something to do over the holiday (21 percent)
5) It's a group activity with friends/family (17 percent)
So why did I skip the most popular day of shopping? In my experience, retail pricing have changed over the years on the items that I purchased the most - clothing, accessories and shoes. I find the sales throughout the year better than the Black Friday sales. One perfect example is Old Navy. They offered a 50% sale everything on Friday. They do this throughout the year already. Not for everything all at once, but at staggered times on different categories. They may have added an additional 10% off for early birds, but is it all worth the 5am wake up call? Driving in the dark, cold weather? Standing in long lines to checkout? I don't think so. Not anymore at least.
I've noticed the "before" pricing were purposely raised so even with a 50% discount (which sounds very appealing) looks like you are getting a deal, when in reality you are actually paying an amount very close to retail price. I know this because I've observed the pricing differences of certain items I was very interested in.
Bottomline is, shoppers are drawn to a sale. Advertising has led to the belief that Black Friday sales are the best. Perhaps for certain electronics, yes. But for regular items, you need to observe what sale you are actually getting. It really is not that great. I find the after Christmas sales are actually better if you were shopping solely for yourself.
Cyber Monday is coming up. Maybe I will browse to see some deals in my pajamas with a nice cup of coffee. Maybe I will be one of the 68.7M online shoppers. But really, the one question you should be asking yourself before buying anything is: Do I really need this??
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The data below shows the potential number of shoppers over the Thanksgiving weekend according to the National Retail Federation. Black Friday still shows as the most popular day to shop. Based on NRF's analysis, the top reasons consumers are planning to shop include:
1) The deals are too good to pass up (65 percent)
2) Tradition (28 percent)
3) It's when they like to start their holiday shopping (22 percent)
4) It's something to do over the holiday (21 percent)
5) It's a group activity with friends/family (17 percent)
So why did I skip the most popular day of shopping? In my experience, retail pricing have changed over the years on the items that I purchased the most - clothing, accessories and shoes. I find the sales throughout the year better than the Black Friday sales. One perfect example is Old Navy. They offered a 50% sale everything on Friday. They do this throughout the year already. Not for everything all at once, but at staggered times on different categories. They may have added an additional 10% off for early birds, but is it all worth the 5am wake up call? Driving in the dark, cold weather? Standing in long lines to checkout? I don't think so. Not anymore at least.
I've noticed the "before" pricing were purposely raised so even with a 50% discount (which sounds very appealing) looks like you are getting a deal, when in reality you are actually paying an amount very close to retail price. I know this because I've observed the pricing differences of certain items I was very interested in.
Bottomline is, shoppers are drawn to a sale. Advertising has led to the belief that Black Friday sales are the best. Perhaps for certain electronics, yes. But for regular items, you need to observe what sale you are actually getting. It really is not that great. I find the after Christmas sales are actually better if you were shopping solely for yourself.
Cyber Monday is coming up. Maybe I will browse to see some deals in my pajamas with a nice cup of coffee. Maybe I will be one of the 68.7M online shoppers. But really, the one question you should be asking yourself before buying anything is: Do I really need this??
