Posts Tagged ‘black friday’

Black Friday’s Supertroopers

Friday, November 26th, 2010

It’s Black Friday, the biggest and most aggressive shopping day of the year. Stores slash prices and determined shoppers wait up all night, push each other, bribe each other, and occasionally trample one another to get their hands on the goods.

This year has seen an increase in the number of shoppers from the broke years after 2008, and the L.A. Times was kind enough to interview some of the consumer warriors swarming the local malls.

Best Quotes

  • “It’s cold, cold, cold, frustrating and stressful standing for five hours but you just do it. My mother-in-law put me in this spot.” – Monica Ferreira, 27, hoping for a $600 washer-dryer from Sears
  • “We are in it to win it. Go hard or go home.” – Ilene Agan, 27, veteran Black Friday Shopper at Toys R Us
  • “This is professional shopping for a lot of these customers, and they know exactly what they want. They plan these things, they have their routes and they make a beeline.” – Mike Boylson, Chief Marketing Officer, JCPenney
  • “Maybe I’m sacrificing too much for this TV.” – Vanessa Barrera, 20, Sears

Black Friday 2009 In Review

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Shoppers showed up the day after Thanksgiving, but their cash went to bargains, sales and less expensive items.

  • More shoppers hit the stores this holiday weekend than last year, but this time they were in search of sales and small appliances.
  • Department stores were a big hit, with just over half of all shoppers visiting at least one during the weekend (a 13% increase from last year!)
  • Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, attracts many shoppers to the Internet for large sales on items that did not sell as well during the weekend. Cyber Monday is an important day in sales for many e-commerce sites, but projections are lower based on the fact that many people who would normally shop during their lunch hours at work are too worried about job security to do so.

Facts & Figures

  • 195 million shoppers ventured into stores during the holiday weekend, as compared with 172 million last year.
  • Average spending, per consumer, dropped to $343.31 per person, down from $372.57 a year ago.
  • 63.8% of shoppers shopped for themselves this year (though Black Friday is traditionally popular among gift shoppers). Also, 31.2% of shoppers were in line for stores at or before 5:00 am.

Best Quote

“During a more robust economy, people may be inclined to hit the snooze button on Black Friday, but high unemployment and a focus on price caused shoppers to visit stores early in anticipation of the best deals.” – Phil Rist, Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at BIGresearch

Black Friday Calls for Heightened Security This Year

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Retailers are stepping up the security and optimizing purchase flow in hopes of improving shopper experiences for the biggest shopping day of the year: the day after Thanksgiving.

  • After the death of an employee who was trampled at a Wal-Mart store last year, stores are gearing up for a big day of retail sales and traffic at all locations by applying strategies used by the Super Bowl and the Olympics.
  • Wal-Mart for example, will have a customized plan for each store, with a flow for each potential buyer that will hopefully improve sales and reduce accidents.
  • Some stores will enforce special rules like, “no running,” and, “wait in line,” but according to experts, anything is possible.

Facts & Figures

  • Wal-Mart stores will open on time at either 5 or 6 a.m depending on the store, but customers will have to wait on a line until a salesperson is available to supervise their shopping.
  • The National Retail Federation created a comprehensive set of guidelines for crowd control at stores, and say that large markdowns and huge discounts create larger crowds and more chaos.
  • Most stores hold dress rehearsals and simulations with their staff in preparation for Black Friday.

Best Quote

“No matter how seamless and airtight you think this [Black Friday] is, the unexpected can happen,” – Ellen Davis, Spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation