I don't normally report “news” here, but I found this Buzzfeed post, “Black Friday Was A Bust, So Why Keep Opening Stores On Thanksgiving?” to be super interesting.
As much as I enjoy shopping and finding a good bargain, I am 100% opposed to stores opening on Thanksgiving. Based on the numbers Buzzfeed reports, opening stores early aren't really helping the stores because shoppers just want to shop when there are deals. So, shoppers will go out on Thanksgiving if that's when the best deals are or they'll go out on Black Friday. What shoppers AREN'T doing, however, is shopping all weekend long, so the bottom-line at the stores isn't really changing despite the increased hours (and increased costs associated with keeping stores open longer).
Another factor that has lead to a decrease in Black Friday/Thanksgiving shopping? The fact that the same sales are available online!
According to the Buzzfeed article,
Many experts are also blaming Black Friday's diminishing significance on the preponderance of deals offered throughout the month of November and the promise of heavier discounts in December. Indeed, Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, made headlines last month with the introduction of “New Black Friday,†or five days of deals. An executive told the Wall Street Journal at the time: “It used to be called Black Friday, then it became Thursday, now it's a week long…Maybe we should just call it November.â€
Just as importantly, retailers offered so many of the same discounts online as in their stores that many consumers chose to avoid the crowds in favor of using their computers. IBM estimated that Thanksgiving Day online sales rose 14.3% from last year, while Black Friday sales rose 9.5%
It's definitely an interesting look at the shopping craziness that just took place over the past week, but I'll be curious to see if the lack of an increase in shoppers leads to stores keeping their doors shut on Thanksgiving, or if the stores will just get more desperate and try new tactics.