Article

The changing face of Black Friday

The weekend after Thanksgiving remains the biggest shopping event of the year, but the reasons customers pack the stores are changing.

November 24, 2009

In a tradition as venerable as televised parades and post-meal naps, millions of Americans will get out and shop on the three days after Thanksgiving, the "Black Friday weekend." According to data released this week by the National Retail Federation, 134 million people will shop this weekend, up from 128 million last year.

The waning days of the recession, however, have created an atmosphere that is equal parts excitement and trepidation.

"We think people are more excited about (Black Friday) than last year, as retailers have stepped up early in the season to offer much more compelling price points on key gifting items," said Lisa Walters, principal of consultancy Retail Eye Partners. "Consumers are still cautious as their household finances and outlook for the economy have not improved much, so we do think while there may be many things they want, their actual spending will be much more controlled and non-impulse."

This year is the first time that NRF has polled shoppers about their specific intentions for Black Friday weekend. Two-thirds said they plan on hitting discount stores, department stores and big boxes; 41 percent are planning on visiting an electronics store; and 36 percent are headed for apparel and accessories.

In a Retail Customer Experience Quick Poll, nearly half of those who are shopping this weekend said they're getting up and out early, in hopes of snagging a "doorbuster" deal. (More on the poll below.)

More about the event, less about the deal

This year has been notable in that many retailers started discounting early - Walmart, Target, Toys 'R Us and Amazon are just a few of the big names that got aggressive with discounting in October. That means another wave is likely on the way: For example, Walmart marked down 100 selected toys to $10 last month, and many of those will be lowered to $5 this Friday. Sears and Kmart have both unveiled extensive discount lists, with Kmart planning to open selected stores on Thanksgiving Day.

But the consumer mindset about Black Friday appears to be shifting.

"It is no longer about the deal, it is about the event," said Paul Flanigan, former executive with Best Buy, now a consultant to the retail industry. "When you see news stories leading up to Black Friday about teams of women and men who build game plans on attacking certain stores, like a military exercise, you begin to see that the stores have less power over the event than the customers do. Waiting in line is now fun to do. Retailers, Best Buy included, simply play into that."

By some accounts, the experiences of shopping on Black Friday might turn out to be better than ever. Cheryl Holland Bridges, director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University, said retailers are ramping up their concierge-like efforts this weekend.

"Consumers can expect increased customer care in many retail operations this year," she said. "Retailers have been advised to try to make Black Friday a better experience for customers by serving coffee and treats while people are waiting in line, creating a friendly atmosphere, and making check-outs faster."

Heather Sokol, a frugal living blogger who runs Inexpensively.com, says Black Friday has been a tradition in her family for ten years. "Honestly, it's mostly about the experience for me," she said. "I truly have a lot of fun. I love spending the day with my mom and my sisters."

The rise of the mommy bloggers

This is the first holiday shopping season since the massive rise of Twitter and "mommy bloggers," and both of those forces will converge on Black Friday. A team of 22 mommy bloggers from across the country have joined forces to create MyBFDeals.com, which will aggregate all of their Tweets from the field via the #BFDeals hashtag.

For them, the deal is still the draw.

"The deals this year are incredible," said Courtney Velasquez, editor of Detroit Mommies and The Digital Mommies, who is taking part in the #BFDeals tweeting frenzy. "Last year I went in the afternoon and bypassed the doorbusters. This year's doorbusters are too good to pass up."

That kind of excitement gets people talking to their friends about their Black Friday plans, which gets even more people up and out to the stores. And that, according to Flanigan, brings the whole event full circle.

"Retailers let the customers make a bigger deal out of it than it really is," he said. "Nothing says Black Friday better than video of customers waiting all night outside your store, eagerly anticipating that one gift they have given up hours of their sleep to nab at a low, low price. No single product for any price can match that imagery."

Results compiled from an online survey of 150 random U.S. shoppers.