In their ever increasing attempt to cannibalize the wallets of American consumers many retail chains throughout the United States will begin their “Black Friday” ads on Thanksgiving day or just seconds afterwards.
After a cool down in 2010 consumer spending many stories including Best Buy (midnight), Wal-Mart (some sales starting at 10pm) and Target (Midnight) will open their doors before the sleepiness of a turkey induced tryptophan slumber can even set in.
Black Friday as it’s commonly referred to is the point when stores “get out of the red (losses)” by accounting for nearly one-third of all annual sales in a matter of hours through the use of severely discounted goods. For example WalMart is selling a 42? flat screen TV for just $199 (in limited supply).
Also set to open early are Old Navy, Kmart, Macy’s, Kohl’s and other stores who hope to get a jump start on the Black Friday buying public.
In responding to criticism that retailers are cannibalizing Thanksgiving Day Mike Vitelli, president, Americas and enterprise executive vice president of Best Buy tells Reuters :
“At the end of the day, we are trying to respond to what our customers want to do, and they are telling us that’s when they want to shop.”
During this years shopping season sales are expected to increase by 2.8 percent over 2010 numbers, but still falls short of 2010’s 5.2 percent gain for both online and offline retailers.
For customers who are looking to shop online Amazon.com is attempting to beat the WalMart rush by opening up their Black Friday sales at 9 p.m. the earliest we have seen a Black Thursday ad yet.
Regardless of the outcome it will be a busy time to be a shopper with 152 million people expected to head out to retail locations, 10.1 percent more people than last year when Black Friday ads started during their more traditional early morning hours, in some cases as early as 3am.
Do you plan to head out on “Black Thursday” for Black Friday sales?
