VICTOR SCHMITT-BUSH
Assistant News Editor
Black Friday was booming this year, but if you went to a big consumer chain like Walmart, Target or Macy’s, you wouldn’t have noticed a thing.
This is because the old hustle and bustle of Black Friday has become a thing of the past. With the advent of online shopping, deals that stretch back to days or even weeks in advance are becoming more popular. The rise of the internet and at-home shopping has made it possible for consumers and retail chains to prepare for Black Friday long before the doors open.
Kurt Layo, who is the managing director at Kurt Salmon, said in a New York Times article that “Retailers helped themselves by starting promotions much earlier this year to spread out the holiday shopping traffic and mitigate chaos. Their efforts appear to be paying off.”
Consumers now, more than ever, are buying products online and picking them up at their local retail chains instead of pushing through huge crowds just to get a good deal.
Kathy Coon, who is a registered nurse and resident of North Tonawanda, said she noticed that the crowds at the stores she went to were unusually small, especially for the day after Thanksgiving.
“One of my biggest comments was, ‘OK, where are all the people? How come we’re not getting the crazy Black Friday experience?’”she said. “It was like a regular shopping day.”
What could account for the small lines and relaxed atmosphere, according to Coon, was that many of the deals online were much better.
“For example, I got stuff at Kohl’s that when I went to the store, it was a couple more dollars there than what it was online,” said Coon. “Online, it was free shipping or pick up at the store.”
Adobe analytics — which tracks trillions in sales across almost all retail sites — reported that online consumers spent a record of $3.7 billion dollars on Thanksgiving, which is a 28 percent increase from a year ago. Black Friday soared past that with $6.22 billion dollars in online retail sales, 23 percent more than last year. Overall sales for Black Friday totalled $23 billion dollars, which was up nine percent more than the previous year.
For some places, though, the traditional chaos and commotion of determined Black Friday shoppers was the same as it’s always been. According to a FOX News article, an estimated 3,500 shoppers lined up at the doors of Mall of America (MOA), and some began waiting in line as early as 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
The USA’s largest mall opened its doors at 5 a.m. and gave out gift cards to the first 200 people to enter. Everyone was greeted by Santa Claus and was given hot coffee at the front line.
Perhaps it’s because of the holiday cheer that people are so drawn in by Black Friday. Every year, big consumer chains like Target, Walmart, Macy’s and Kohl’s are expected to bring in large, bursting crowds and put up extravagant christmas decorations for everyone to see.
Katie Nasworthy, a shopper who was mentioned in an ABC News article, said she went to the mall instead of shopping online because she likes to see the Christmas decorations.
Coon mentioned that she loves the Christmas cheer that comes along with Black Friday, too, but she has her own reasons for avoiding shopping online.
“You have the old-fashioned people like me who need to see what we’re buying,” said Coon. “I can’t trust what I’m getting on the internet. I like to go and see and feel and gauge what I’m getting that way.”
This is true for clothes and accessories, but a majority of the online shopping that was done on Black Friday was of smartphones. Of the $6.22 billion dollars that were spent online, $2.1 billion dollars were spent on mobile devices, according to Adobe analytics.
With E-commerce on the rise, be sure to look online for the best deals this Christmas season. Retailers are making a list of deals and you should check it twice, both in the store and on your phone.