This past week Americans celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends- at least for the first half of the day. For many, the holiday shopping season begins every year with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when most stores have special deals and discounts. These past few years the tradition has creeped its way into the day prior, Thanksgiving Day itself. Many stores open as early as 6pm on Turkey day in order to bring in customers, and therefore profit, to their store.
Although Black Friday is mostly seen by consumers as a day to start holiday shopping or to buy items for themselves, the day, and the entire season itself, is much more important in the bigger picture of the United States economy. Thirty percent of annual retail sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas. The day is the beginning of the most crucial month of the year for retailers, and it sets the tone for the remainder of the shopping season. Overall, consumers are projected to spend a total of $682 billion on holiday shopping and each individual consumer is projected to spend an average of $967.13. Black Friday and the holiday shopping season are also crucial for the economy because retailers hire between 500,000-550,000 seasonal workers each November. This hiring spree boosts the economy by giving companies sufficient human resources for the season in order for them to perform at the highest efficiency, and by alleviating the unemployment rate for at least a month or two.
The deals and discounts offered by retailers on Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season vary from store to store. Studies have found that the best days to buy electronics are the beginning of November, the best day to buy Christmas decor is November 22nd, and the best day to buy toys is the day before Thanksgiving. The peak of overall discounts the week before Thanksgiving is an average of 20 percent off. On Black Friday weekend that percentage increases to 37 percent. And although the Monday following Thanksgiving there is a day that is dedicated to discounted online purchases, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving Day is the best day for online purchases. Many Hillgrove students took advantage of the deals. Max Johnson says that “Belk had a bunch of buy one get two free deals”. He also remarked that it was worth it to go Black Friday shopping because “it’s a good opportunity to get what you already need for a lower price”.
Black Friday 2017 proved to be a fairly successful showing for retailers, especially considering the major increases in online shopping that have occurred in the past few years. The prospects for this year’s Black Friday were grim for some retailers because of the newfound convenience of online shopping. Companies like Best Buy had specific items exclusively at the store and not available online in order to boost in-store sales. Despite their fears, department stores fared well on Friday. In-store and online sales brought in more profit than expected. Kohl’s had a record-breaking amount of website visits and JC Penney had the most visits to their website for the entire year. Department stores did very well and fared better overall than the last few years. It was a win-win weekend for shoppers and stores.
Photo Credit: www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
Although Black Friday is mostly seen by consumers as a day to start holiday shopping or to buy items for themselves, the day, and the entire season itself, is much more important in the bigger picture of the United States economy. Thirty percent of annual retail sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas. The day is the beginning of the most crucial month of the year for retailers, and it sets the tone for the remainder of the shopping season. Overall, consumers are projected to spend a total of $682 billion on holiday shopping and each individual consumer is projected to spend an average of $967.13. Black Friday and the holiday shopping season are also crucial for the economy because retailers hire between 500,000-550,000 seasonal workers each November. This hiring spree boosts the economy by giving companies sufficient human resources for the season in order for them to perform at the highest efficiency, and by alleviating the unemployment rate for at least a month or two.
The deals and discounts offered by retailers on Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season vary from store to store. Studies have found that the best days to buy electronics are the beginning of November, the best day to buy Christmas decor is November 22nd, and the best day to buy toys is the day before Thanksgiving. The peak of overall discounts the week before Thanksgiving is an average of 20 percent off. On Black Friday weekend that percentage increases to 37 percent. And although the Monday following Thanksgiving there is a day that is dedicated to discounted online purchases, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving Day is the best day for online purchases. Many Hillgrove students took advantage of the deals. Max Johnson says that “Belk had a bunch of buy one get two free deals”. He also remarked that it was worth it to go Black Friday shopping because “it’s a good opportunity to get what you already need for a lower price”.
Black Friday 2017 proved to be a fairly successful showing for retailers, especially considering the major increases in online shopping that have occurred in the past few years. The prospects for this year’s Black Friday were grim for some retailers because of the newfound convenience of online shopping. Companies like Best Buy had specific items exclusively at the store and not available online in order to boost in-store sales. Despite their fears, department stores fared well on Friday. In-store and online sales brought in more profit than expected. Kohl’s had a record-breaking amount of website visits and JC Penney had the most visits to their website for the entire year. Department stores did very well and fared better overall than the last few years. It was a win-win weekend for shoppers and stores.
Photo Credit: www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
