Stores opened earlier than ever this year for Black Friday and a record $52.4 billion was spent over the long, four day weekend. 11 Connects News’ George Jackson caught up with MarketingMel the night before Thanksgiving, ironically in the parking lot at the local Mall where I was doing some shopping. George and I discussed the newest holiday shopping trends including the earliest shopping starts yet. Without a crystal ball but having read and watched some of the forecasted trends, I predicted that people will come to view the early start to Black Friday (or early end to Thanksgiving, depending on how you look at it) as consumers once viewed Sundays. What was at one time a sacred day to be home from work enjoying family will become just another day to shop (albeit with huge bargains!) With Cyber Monday coming on the heels of such a record breaking weekend we can only expect the spending trend to continue and that’s bound to put some zing into our economy.
I took an informal poll of my Facebook friends Wednesday evening prior to the interview and while the majority said they would not shop Black Friday several said they would be out there and early. One Facebook friend even posted a photo of herself camping out in order to take advantage of the specials. Did you shop Black Friday? Did you frequent a local establishment on Small Business Saturday or will you shop from the comfort of your office on Cyber Monday? Maybe you’re wondering what all the fuss is about since your shopping generally doesn’t start for several more weeks? Whatever your shopping habits, I’d love to have you share your stories with us here!
Follow me on twitter @MarketingMel.
I have never been much of a shopper so I stayed at home and enjoyed time with Sue and some friends. We ventured out to eat, but stayed away from the malls.
I feel that we did our part to boost the economy earlier this year with a new house and fixing it up.
Wow. A new house! And I thought we stimulated it with a new car purchase Black Friday weekend! Hey, we’re all doing our part, right Bill?
Black Friday and Chrisitmas Eve are the 2 days of the year that I refuse to go shopping (at least in a brick-and-mortar store). I don’t really like chaos and mayhem. Also, I can’t imagine camping out for anything. I’m of the mindset that my time is actually worth more than a few hundred dollars so spending hours in line for something I could easily buy the next day or online seems like a huge waste.
I’m definitely more of a Cyber Monday girl. I think I single-handedly keep amazon.com in business.
They save me lot’s of time, energy, and money.
Tiffany as consultants we truly value our time don’t we?
I was out of town and didn’t shop of Black Friday. In fact, other than a trip to the drug store for cold medicine, didn’t shop the weekend at all. But must admit I purchased some Kindle downloads on Cyber Monday. I’m with Tiffany. I’m not a big crowd person and the idea of camping out for a bargain is something I can’t imagine myself doing. Not a good ROI of my time (probably also why I don’t hold yard sales).
Linda love the yard sale analogy! Time is money for consultants like us!
No Black Friday for me! Like Tiffany I’m a cyber-shopper. And the dealss this year didn’t seem all that great to me – lots of emails offering me a whopping 10% off. Yawn……
Thanks Sue. I appreciate your comments. I did some Cyber Monday shopping as well!
I left the retail portion of my career 25 years ago this year. And with it, I left venturing out of my house on that named Friday. This year, that sequestering was even more meaningful as our daughter and son-in-law drove down on T-day. Therefore, our Friday was Thanksgiving.
Glad you enjoyed a restful weekend with family Jeff!
I would rather pay full price than to get in the mess and spend all that time! Don’t get a lot of time off with family in the first place, so like yours and many others, time is very valuable!
Ha! Thanks Sarah. I know what you mean.
Looks like I was the only brave (albeit crazy) one to venture out on Black Friday. To my defense, it was only one place (Office Max) for one item (printer) and I was back home and in bed by 7:30 a.m. I believe there were more employees than shoppers in the store when I was there.
Ha! Good for you Kristina. Glad you got your printer and survived!