From: Uganda's Pied Piper
Re: Uganda's Pied piper: I hate to bring this up, but the question over lack of awareness/involvement on the part of American public may require self-examination…
From: Red, White & Harry
Bring on your bad self! If some foraign automaker thinks they can make hay out of detroit, just let'em try We can hang with the best, our automakers…
From: The Poison Apple
Unfortunately, depends on your p.o.v. I don' t have the disposable income to indulge myself in every fad that comes along, ergo, I am a "late joiner"…
For the last several years, I have been a Black Friday shopper, but the recent trend of stores moving their opening times to midnight may be enough to stop me.
Being a Black Friday shopper used to be about commitment to the game, to getting the best deal. It was about waking up at 3 a.m. for sales that started at 4 a.m. and commiserating with others who did the same. Last year, Wal-Mart began to change all that, making Black Friday sales accessible to anyone who could stay up late.
Instead of parents seeking perfect presents at one-day affordable prices, the store was packed, far more than it is at 4 a.m., with obnoxious and generally, young, people who still reek of the alcohol they consumed as part of the family holiday celebration. What passed for courtesy at 4 am, limited though it might be, was replaced by the basic inebriated attitude of people who left the bar too soon, hoping to score a 40" plasma television for $300.
The shift in the target market for Black Friday sales was quite obvious; as was the fact that perhaps marketers have not thought this through completely. I get that it was like an auction, everyone moving the store opening an hour earlier to get customers first. Wal-Mart went in big, bidding the whole thing, and opening at midnight. The problem is that now a handful of stores start sales at midnight, but others still wait for a respectable 4 a.m. Some even wait until -- gasp -- 6 a.m.
So here's a note to the genius who made this decision: I'm probably not going to do both midnight and 4 a.m. and personally, I like the morning crowd better. Even though there is still a big rush of consumers, I can deal with a slightly different type of crowd. And the most important thing to you -- I have a lot more money to spend than most of those drunken kids.
How has Black Friday shopping affected you this year?
Graphic Credit:
Animationfactory.com
1. jlopez366 |Nov. 24, 2011 @ 10:56 PM