Shopping has undergone countless overhauls over the decades – centuries, even. But yet another cultural shift will see Black Friday sales “creep” up faster than ever as the mounting excitement from consumers sees sellers offering deals sooner and sooner.
The official day of discounted purchasing glory is, of course, the Friday immediately after Thanksgiving all the way in November. But more and more, stores have offered sales in the time immediately leading up to the big day. This year, that “lead up” time will be even earlier, starting as early as mid-October.
A culture of Black Friday “creep up” sales has vendors offering bargains earlier than ever
ModernRetail refers to it as a culture of having Black Friday sale anticipation “creep up” earlier and earlier; the build-up to the lead-up effectively moves the Black Friday finish line. Some of this is exacerbated by Cyber Monday, a period officially coined back in 2005 that has had all this time to merge with Black Friday to become one long weekend of shopping.
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The name recognition of Black Friday coupled with the range of Cyber Monday makes this time of the month one long chance for bargains, to the point a sale once exclusive to November is now starting in October. Essentially kicking off the shopping marathon will be Amazon with Amazon Prime Day 2, which takes place on October 10.
It is still worth noting, however, that while retailers may start rolling out deals in the spirit of Black Friday before even Halloween, the deals will only get sweeter and sweeter as they get closer to Black Friday.
Is this just a win-win for everyone?
Strategies like this – embracing the spirit of a Black Friday “creep up” – can be a great victory for consumers scoring great deals, but it does come with some frustrations for retailers. ModernRetail notes that broadening the timeline for sales can put pressure on brands as they must cut costs and fight to stay competitive and profitable.
On top of that, notes Nikki Baird, VP of strategy at retail technology provider Aptos, “there is just no getting around the strain of storing [inventory], positioning it and getting it out on the floor to meet that kind of demand.” So, if a brand does rope in customers with cut costs, they also need the material to actually distribute – and that could be a very heavy demand during the season of sales. That endeavor comes with logistics of its own, like warehouse ownership and maintenance of all sort.
But wait – there’s more! IGN reports that Cyber Monday… is becoming Cyber Week, because even the scope of the aftermath of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is widening. Time will tell how this balances out for retailers, but in the meantime, consumers can shop knowing they have a wide window of sales, although the best ones are still around the traditional time of Thanksgiving weekend.
Happy holiday shopping to all!
