Black Friday Approaches: Shoppers Strategize

by Jordan Yerman | November 21, 2008 at 09:26 am

439 views | 19 Recommendations | 6 comments

The snowfall, the storefront decorations... Black Friday is nearly here! The biggest sale day of the year in the US, this is the official kickoff for the holiday shopping season.

Here in Canada, some stores are hosting competing sales in order to lure locals away from cross-border shopping for those Black Friday deals, since over 90% of Canadians live within a two-hour drive of the US border.

Given this year’s economic climate, with retailers desperate to increase sales and shoppers looking for even steeper discounts, Black Friday 2008 is hoped by both parties to be, in the words of Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, “none more black.”

Also, this is a bigger-than-usual period for online retailers, though I think the term "Cyber Monday" was just now made up:

The term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the ceremonial kick-off of the holiday online shopping season in the United States between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. [1] Whereas Black Friday is associated with traditional brick-and-mortar stores, “Cyber Monday” symbolizes a busy day for online retailers.

More so than in years past, stores have to offer some serious deals in order to woo cash-strapped shoppers. Of course, shoppers know this, and will plan their excursions with painstaking (and, in my opinion, perplexing) precision.

This year, there has already been much chatter about $99 GPS units for sale at Target, $200 Blu-ray DVD players at Circuit City, $250 netbooks at Amazon and, as always, ever larger and more affordable flat-panel televisions, like the $900 42-inch 1080p LCD models for sale at Best Buy.

The thing to remember is this: Such amazingly priced products will probably be hard to find. They serve as the bait to get you through the door. A given store may have only five or a dozen items at such a deal, and the frozen few at the head of the line will be sure to snap them up.

This year, though, the bait will sell, but the switch may just sit on the shelves, as "oh, well, just anohter $100" becomes "oh, crap! Another $100!"

Entire Web sites, like Bfads.net, Black-Friday.net and FatWallet.com, are set up to collect intelligence on reduced prices, organize it into easy-to-compare lists and post it for all to see. These sites also have well-populated forums where veterans of Black Fridays past can discuss this year’s deals and strategies for dealing with them.

Such advanced planning can be frustrated by last-minute switches in store deals, though it's a safe bet that nobody's going to be offering a great deal and not telling the public about it.

So tell us... are you going to hit the stores (on foot or on mouseback) this post-Thanksgiving weekend?

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matte

at 15:48 on November 21st, 2008

prices are so low for most products in the USA even without discounting, what's next....giving them away for free??

corbinse

at 18:02 on November 21st, 2008

I know I will not be shopping this black friday the econ issues have already hit us hard.. being in sales at this time .. is just awful. Things have been up and down for a while but the last few weeks have been really down. I'm sure like you said the bait and switch will just be the bait.

tinatina413

at 07:25 on November 22nd, 2008

so many people~~~

tinatina413 has contributed a photo to this story.

Amy Judd

at 10:34 on November 28th, 2008

A terrible side effect of Black Friday shopping - a Wal Mart worker was trampled to death and a pregnant woman may have miscarried due to the masses of people.

Amy Judd

at 11:10 on November 28th, 2008

Apparently the sales for Black Friday are just as high as last year, despite the flailing economy:

Preliminary reports from several major retailers including Macy's and Toys "R" Us said that crowds were at least as large as last year's, but many shoppers sounded notes of caution and concern.

Retailers extended their hours, some opening at midnight, and offered deals that were deeper and wider than the deep discounts that shoppers found throughout November.

Best Buy, which threw its doors open at 5 a.m. offered such specials as a 49-inch Panasonic plasma HDTV for $899.99 and a $189.99 GPS device by Garmin. Toys "R" Us was offering up to 60 percent discounts from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.

But the excitement over the early morning specials proved fatal for at least one store. Police from Nassau County, N.Y. say a Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled by a throng of unruly shoppers shortly after the Long Island store opened Friday. Wal-Mart offiicals would not confirm reports of stampede, but said a "medical emergency" caused them to close the store.

Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman at the National Retail Federation, the industry's largest retail group, said that she was "not aware of any other circumstances where a retail employee has died working on the day after Thanksgiving."

Many consumers, clutching the store circulars, were focused on a few bargains Friday and said they were slashing their overall holiday budgets from a year ago as they juggle paying their rent and other bills while putting food on the table amid layoffs, tightening credit and dwindling retirement accounts.

JordanL

at 01:28 on March 20th, 2009

I really don't get it, because even in times of recession and hard times most of us still love to shop. I just hope you guys shop wisely. Because recently i heard the new about the Center for Responsible Lending. Just by it's name you know what they're doing. But did you know that the issue on Center for Responsible Lending is totally against by the state of Idaho for they believe this is group of misnomer people. They've been going over two pieces of legislation that would provide regulation on cash advance lenders by mandating licensing of all cash advance lenders. One of the customers of Center for Responsible Lending are those unlicensed lenders like Internet Lending over which the state of Idaho give the right to sue them for practicing such unlicensed lending act. The Idaho would like to convey the idea to regulate the industry in the state and some have the intention of using these bills as stepping-stone to ridding payday loans from the state of Idaho entirely. Well it's your call when you want to avail the Center for Responsible Lending, and for the state of Idaho wish you all the best.