By Mac Moore
The lines will likely be wrapping around the entrance of local retailers the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday remains a big shopping day for the holiday season despite the fact the savings are not always as big as advertised.
According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, sales on Black Friday are rarely the best of the year. Teaming up with a retail strategies company called Decide, Inc., they conducted a study using the daily price points of every major retailer in the last six years.
The report indicates many items had better sales in September and October. Some items had price jumps upwards of 50 percent by the time Black Friday rolled around, as was the case with Ugg Boots.
The internet can be blamed for much of the shift in price points over the holiday season. The ability to purchase items from the click of a mouse has pushed the market to the web. According to Forbes, the record for single-day online spending was set on Cyber Monday in 2011.
Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday when customers receive online deals to drive web business. The convenience meets savings as 70 percent of Black Friday deals are also available online, according to Dealnews.com.
Despite the alternatives given by internet shopping, people continue to wait in line during the early morning and late night hours for these sales. To figure out why, it is necessary to look at the social nature of people. Rosalee Dallman, associate professor, Sociology, views the Black Friday phenomenon as being a kind of community-building activity.
“In some respects these situations are a way of creating a temporary sense of community,” Dallman said. “Since our society is somewhat lacking in this area, any opportunity to feel connected to others is sought out by people, especially during the holiday season. Shopping itself could help us feel a part of the Christmas season in a real and tangible way.”
This is not to say that retailers do not have tremendous deals during Black Friday. Some of the doorbuster deals actually are the best of the year. Last year, Best Buy offered a Sharp 42” HDTV for under $200.
South Lawrence Walmart manager Brandon Barrett said items like these are held in small inventory used as bait to get customers in the doors. The plan is to attract customers who then buy lesser deals that will make the retailer profit.
“It’s just strategy,” Barrett said. “We can’t sell large quantities of these huge deals; we would lose money. We aren’t in the business of losing money. Our job is to manage the losses on deals that get the customers in the door.”
Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, Mac Moore was once employed at the South Lawrence Walmart.
Contact Mac Moore, sports editor, at mmoore82@jccc.edu.