Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2010
“Black Friday” indicates the period during which retailers are turning a profit, or “in the black.”
In a stagnant economy the holiday shopping sale known as Black Friday might be more important than ever as families and consumers seek out hot holiday items for their friends and loved ones. This year may have been the busiest Black Friday ever, with consumers purchasing more items for themselves, including non-essentials. Black Friday became a phenomenon in mid-2000 when consumer spending was at a peak. Coupled with Cyber Monday, the online market’s solution for providing discounts to consumers at home, this Black Friday weekend was largely a success to business and consumers alike.
The Black Friday ritual usually begins in line at a closed store front with other bargain buyers. These are the individuals who pride themselves in being smart shoppers, and with good reason. A Black Friday sale features items at the top of everyone’s holiday wish list, like large plasma screen televisions, smartphones, and trendy toys for children. These items fly off retail shelves so fast that Black Friday is the only time during the holiday season they are available to consumers who don’t have the time or resources to track them down otherwise. When the store opens, usually in the wee hours of the morning, the early birds rush through the door in a frenzy to fill their carts with these highly desirable items. With hundreds of dollars saved and the most sought after gifts of the year shaved off the shopping list, the sacrifice of standing in the cold for hours is well worth it for these household heroes.
Cyber Monday became a bigger factor in the holiday playbook for consumers and businesses this year. More advertising attention was given to Cyber Monday in 2010 than any other since it’s inception as a way to add holiday sales to the booming online marketplace, providing items not found in stores and special sales only available through cyberspace, with free ground shipping. One-third of Americans who shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday did their shopping online, a fifteen percent increase from last year. As consumers are getting more comfortable shopping and buying on the internet, Cyber Monday may very well eclipse Black Friday in importance over the next decade.
Even though Black Friday is a retail machine, small businesses have an opportunity to capitalize on the growing success of Cyber Monday. Paypal reported today an increase of 27% in online Black Friday weekend transactions since 2008. For small businesses with a strong web presence this could mean an opportunity in the years to come to reach holiday shoppers online who otherwise would never come “through the doors”. With some simple marketing and SEO tactics targeted at holiday shoppers, small business owners can start grabbing the attention of consumers next year who are sick of standing in the cold an hour after Thanksgiving dinner for a bargain.