December 3, 2008
[Black Friday]
Did you go shopping on black Friday? I did, but it was more out of coincidence of having a day off to shop than going out for sales. And surprisingly there weren’t any crowds at the stores I was shopping at.
Researchers at America’s Research Group wouldn’t be surprised by this lack of mall madness. Their prediction was a 3.5% drop from last year’s sales. They attribute this to the shopper’s behavior: sticking to a budget (70.2%) and a list, getting most of their Christmas shopping in three or fewer days (63%), and buying the basement bargains.
Black Friday is truly a yearly pulse on consumers. Their behaviors on Black Friday tell much about how the economy is really effecting families fiscally and emotionally. The freeze on spending is a reflection of the thousands of lost jobs but also the emotional tolls the suffering economy has on consumers. Consumers suffer from the psychological influence of all of the news articles about the suffering economy which in turn decreases the feeling of freedom they have to spend. However some consumers find ways around this, by buying more for less. These consumers have compromised on their standards and buy from retailers like Wal-Mart, who is believed to have the greatest price cuts. The number of consumers who shop Wal-Mart is up from 59.3 to 61.3 from last year.
I think everyone, especially retailers, are hoping for the recession to end and for spending to go up.
