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'Black Friday Is Dying' (fastcompany.com)

Posted by msmash on from the changing-pattern dept.

A reader shares a report: For years, Black Friday signaled the beginning of Christmas shopping. The day after Thanksgiving was a frantic day of driving to the store at the crack of dawn to fight off other shoppers for great deals. For people who truly hated the ritual, I have some good news for you: Black Friday is going away. That's according to data from GPShopper, which tracks consumer behavior. It turns out, customers are really not into Black Friday. A full 81% of us feel stress surrounding the notion of Black Friday, and 45% of us believe it is the most stressful time of the year. And with online shopping, consumers are increasingly realizing they don't need to do all their shopping on one day. The majority would prefer to shop in the second week of December. Weirdly, a full 12% of consumers would prefer to shop after Christmas, to capitalize on the post-holiday sales, even though their recipients would get their presents a little late.

9 of 290 comments (clear)

  1. We are going to celebrate Festivus by jabberw0k · · Score: 5, Funny

    on January 6. Problem solved.

  2. Not a very good poll by jfdavis668 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Black Friday was never a majority event. It was always a dedicated minority who were either looking for great deals or just had nothing better to do that day. I think most people always hated it. Online shopping just gave them another way to shop, instead of just avoiding the mall that day.

    1. Re:Not a very good poll by bws111 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You are off by decades. The term 'black Friday' was used starting in the 60s. It was used not by the retailers, but the police, who used it to describe the incredible traffic jams and crowds that occurred on that day. The day after Thanksgiving crowds were already a thing in the 1950s. It was indeed 'a whole big thing' way back then. I don't know when the special sales started, but they were certainly in place when I worked at a department store in the 70s. We had to be there at 4AM to retag all the merchandise before the store opened at 6AM (instead of the usual 10AM),

  3. Weirdly? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 5, Interesting

    >Weirdly, a full 12% of consumers would prefer to shop after Christmas, to capitalize on the post-holiday sales, even though their recipients would get their presents a little late.

    That's not weird. The whole thing is stupidly inefficient - the stores have to stock up and get temporary workers for a month or so, customers have to cram into those stores during that month, and a premium is put on everything to cover the extra expenses plus the whole 'this could be it until next December' mentality.

    On the other hand, I'm pretty much done with the whole 'consume consume consume' thing. Neither I nor any of my family or friends NEED anything, and we have everything we could reasonably want. None of us are starving. None of us lack a book to read or a game to play.

    A gift is something I have to find space for in my house. A gift is something I'm going to think about how wasteful it was to have produced, shipped, and eventually recycled (or thrown in the dump).

    At best (or worst?) I just want to get a little token trinket for someone, and fighting traffic and a crowded mall just to pay a premium for one doesn't appeal. And all the stores around here do 'Boxing Week' sales, with big bargain-hunting crowds pretty much fading in the first day. Damn right I'm going shopping after Christmas, at least for those I won't see until January anyway.

    1. Re:Weirdly? by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Gifts can simply be food or wine or something like that. Most sensible adults give those type of gifts when giving to other adults.

    2. Re:Weirdly? by ranton · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Gifts can simply be food or wine or something like that. Most sensible adults give those type of gifts when giving to other adults.

      This is why my wife and I are happy not giving each other gifts for events in the traditional sense. I may never buy her a piece of jewelry or clothing during our entire marriage, unless we are both shopping together. But we do get tickets to theater or sporting events near birthdays and anniversaries as a present to ourselves. This makes holidays and other special events far less stressful.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  4. Re:"dedicated minority" meaning African Americans? by mjwx · · Score: 5, Informative

    When you use the term "dedicated minority", are you referring to African Americans and Hispanic Americans?

    I'm pretty certain he meant uninformed tight-arses, not a specific race.

    The kind of people who don't realise two things.
    1. There is a time cost. Spending 6 hours to save 20% often isn't worth it. Not to mention the cost of fuel.
    2. Prices are raised in preparation for the holiday sales, then dropped less than that amount for black Friday.

    Savvy people buy this stuff off peak when meaningful discounts are offered to keep stock moving (January or just before the end of the financial year in your nation). Many of us have just given up on stores entirely because we get better prices online. Especially for stuff that goes into stupid prices around Christmas like toys and games, what little of this I had to buy for relatives, I bought months ago.

    Fairly certain a savvy black or Latino would have done the same thing. I'm not smart because I'm white, I'm smart because I actually thought about things and planned ahead.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  5. Re: Black Friday is growing, not dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    #BlackFridaysMatter

  6. Re:"dedicated minority" meaning African Americans? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Black Friday was never a majority event. It was always a dedicated minority who were either looking for great deals or just had nothing better to do that day.

    When you use the term "dedicated minority", are you referring to African Americans and Hispanic Americans?

    No, we're referring to the dedicated idiots living in tent city outside a Best Buy for a week to get $150 off a TV. That kind of stupidity is not bound by race.

    It's also rather disrespectful for you to say that they "have nothing better to do that day". They most likely would rather be working one or more of their multiple jobs, trying desperately to make ends meet.

    Really? Most of the shit I see the Black Friday dedicated idiots standing in line for is not what poverty would define as "essential", so spare me the rhetoric about making ends meet. If they were that desperate, they wouldn't be giving up 3 days worth of income to stand in line for a fucking video game console.

    Poverty means you're shopping at the second-hand store, garage sales, or goodwill, which will always beat the shit out of any store sale, and certainly doesn't require anyone to wait for Black Friday.