Friday, November 25, 2011

What is Black Friday? Is it really worth it?

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving.  I hope you wasn't overwhelmed by the Black Friday spirit.  Today is considered the busiest shopping day of the year.  Retailers hope to get a strong boost heading into the Christmas season.  Crowds sack their favorite stores to try to rack up deals that may only appear once in a life time.

Unfortunately, in some parts of the country, Black Friday was quite violent.  People fighting over merchandise.  Mobs trampling people to death as they rush through the doors to beat others to the bargains.

What is Black Friday?  Where did it come from? When is Black Friday?  I have found the answer to these questions by looking at about.com.

  The history of Black Friday began in 1966. This is when a story appeared in an ad in The American Philatelist. The Philadelphia Police Department used the name to describe the traffic jams and crowding in the downtown stores.
Black Friday has been the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season since the 1930s. In fact, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week during the Great Depression because retailers wanted an extra week of shopping revenue. This pleased retailers, but irritated shoppers, who had to change plans.

 Black Friday 2011 is the day after Thanksgiving, November 25 2011. It officially kicks off the holiday shopping season, as 195 million shoppers usually hit stores during the Black Friday weekend. This is important for the economy because nearly 20% of retail sales occur between Black Friday through Christmas. For some retailers, such as jewelers, it can be as high as 40%.
For 2011, the National Retail Federation said that shoppers usually spend about half of their total holiday gift shopping on Black Friday. The NRF forecast that shoppers are more optimistic in 2011 than they were last year. Holiday sales will be up 2.8% to $465.6 billion. This is higher than the 2.6% increase experienced in the last ten years, but lower than the norm (3.4% annual increase) for the decade before the 2008 financial crisis. It's unlikely growth will return to those levels anytime soon, since most of this spending was fueled with credit card debt. This debt has been declining in the last three years.
On average, each shoppers said they expect to spend $704 in 2011. However, it's possible they could spend more than their expectations, because that's just what happened during Black Friday 2010. They said they would spend $688 each, but they actually spent $719 each. Shoppers will spend less than the all-time high of $755 per person set in 2007. It's much better than the recessionary low of $682 per shopper set in 2009.
That increase could be because shoppers have delayed big purchases during the year to take advantage of holiday sales. Nearly two-thirds (60%) said they would buy non-gift items for themselves and family. They said they would plan to spend $130.43 each to buy apparel, electronics,and household items on sales. This is up from $112.20 they spent on non-gift items last year.
Most of the money ($403) will be spent on gifts for family members. The rest will be spent friends ($68), co-workers ($21), and others including pets ($23). In addition to playing Santa with presents, shoppers will celebrate the holidays by purchasing candy and food ($96.75), decorations ($46.73), greeting cards ($26.52), and flowers ($18.23.)
Ever since the recession, retail trends show a shift to thrift. This is not just a search for the lowest price, but also an interest in finding the best value for the price. The 2011 Black Friday survey shows the same. Nearly half (41%) said sales and price discounts are the most important factor. However, 15% said quality of merchandise was most important, while 6% were most interested in superior customer service.
Shoppers head toward the retailers that meet their need for discounts and bargains. For this reason, most of them will visit discount stores (66% vs 65% in 2010). Department stores, that have learn to provide more savings through private labels, will see an increase in the percentage of shoppers planning to visit them -- 57% vs. 55% last year. Shoppers plan to spend more time visiting a variety of retail outlets to find the best bargains. For that reason, more will visit clothing or accessory stores (35% vs. 34%), drug stores (21% vs. 19% last year), and grocery stores (49% vs. 47%). More of those looking to make their own gifts will visit crafts and fabric stores (18% vs. 16% in 2010).
For recipients, gifts small and large are expected to make big impressions this year. For the fifth year in a row – and at the highest level in the survey’s history – 57.7 percent of shoppers say they’d like to receive a gift card this holiday season. What kinds of gifts do people want to receive? Well over half (58%) simply want a gift card, so they can be sure they won't be disappointed with their gift. Others trust their gift-givers' taste in clothing and accessories (50%), consumer electronics (35%), jewelry (23%), and personal care items (19%).
Nearly 80% are getting a head start on their holiday shopping, with 40% starting before Halloween, and another 40% will beg starting before Black Friday. Another 17% will wait until the first two weeks in December, while 4% will procrastinate until right before Christmas.
According to National Retail Federation, stores will hire between 480,000 and 500,000 seasonal workers this holiday season, about the same as the 495,000 workers they hired in 2010. In addition, retailers added 100,000 workers since August 2010. This is another important way the retail industry affects the U.S. economy. (Source: National Retail Federation 2011 Survey)

The above stats concern me.  Too much of our economy depends on Black Friday and the Christmas season.  The confidence or the lack of confidence over the first quarter or two of next year will depend on this period of time.  We have materialized Christmas so much that the very health of our country depends on it.

I hope everyone got the things they got up early or camped out and stood in line for.  Every year the Christmas season is pushed back to where Thanksgiving and Halloween are loosing their status of even being a holiday.  Our materialism is causing us to forget the meaning of the holidays.

Like everyone else,  I like the bargains.  But I'm afraid that little by little I'm afraid we are losing the true meaning of the holiday seasons.  What are we leaving for our kids and grand-kids?

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1 comment:

revjlt1 said...

I have had reports that this post would not allow comments. I believe they have it fixed now.