Today is Black Friday, and to quote TheBalance:
Black Friday is November 23, 2018, the day after Thanksgiving. It's traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year because it kicks off the holiday season. This season is crucial for the economy because around 30 percent of annual retail sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas. For some retailers, such as jewelers, it's even higher, at almost 40 percent.
For some, it is an outing tradition. I might actually now challenge the horror of Black Friday, for the internet is transforming the scene. Black Friday weekend peaked in 2012. Could shopping centers go the way of book stores? It is said, though, that Hawaii, as an island state, is unique, for we need to pay more for transportation, many items cannot be shipped here, and it takes far longer to get here for Christmas.
But there is a transition period, so remember that there will be more than 100 million shopping tomorrow, 65 million on Saturday and 33 million on Sunday. The question is: Will online shopping begin to materially reduce crowds?
Last year, the National Retail Federation said that of the 174 million Americans who did their Black Friday shopping between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, 58 million of them exclusively shopped online. An additional 61 million shopped both online and in store.
Black Friday was coined as early as 1952, but did not become prominent until the 1980's. The term black usually is applied to horrible events, but there is something to stores coming into the black from the profit standpoint. The black still applies to hordes of people, impossible parking and traffic. Now retailers sometimes open after Thanksgiving dinner. Many of the best bargains can be had this weekend, items will run out, so that is the hysteric draw to shop as early as possible.
From DealNews:
Despite the high number of sales on this shopping holiday, you won't see fantastic prices on every product. And even though we posted the most deals on Black Friday itself in 2017, both Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday featured more Editors' Choice deals.
Still, that doesn't mean you should ditch Black Friday entirely. Throughout the Black Friday season, there are clear trends as to when different products go on sale. Black Friday will likely be the best day to get deals on kitchen goods, clothes, tools, beauty products, toys, laptops, and appliances.
But if you're looking for most types of electronics, Thanksgiving tends to have better deals. We're predicting Turkey Day will have the best deals on smartphones, speakers, tablets, headphones, and video games in 2018. And if you want to buy a television or book your next vacation? Cyber Monday is probably the best time to shop.
One final date worth noting is Cyber Monday, which was coined in 2005. There were record sales last year of $6.6 billion. Black Friday.com shows the following:
But TheStreet reports that Cyber Monday attracted 122 million shoppers, while Black Friday drew 116 million, of which 67 million did it online. So to repeat, the telling transformation of Black Friday might well be an obvious clue to the fate of shopping centers.
None of these shopping days have any appeal to me anyway because, first, I'm old enough, so I've stopped giving Christmas gifts. People still drop things off for me on occasion, but by now they should know that I don't reciprocate. My wife Pearl would have continued the exchanges, but she's no longer around. Second, I have everything I could possibly want. Sad to say that I have nothing left to buy. But I remain in a pleasant state of euphoria.
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