Black Friday and CyberMonday…Let the Shopping Frenzy Begin
According to reports from Shoppertrak, the 4am opening times that many retailers advertised last Friday must have worked…racking up $10.3 billion in sales. Up 8% over last year. But 4am! That’s crazy. I hate to shop. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Yet I went shopping Friday to pick up a few gifts. At a much more civilized 10am. I may have missed a few of the uber bargains, but also avoided the crazy, walkie-talkie-armed, reindeer antler-headband-wearing mobs who throw punches and elbow their way to their purchase target. There is nothing I want bad enough to risk that insane early morning mob scene.
Hyped nearly as much as Black Friday, Cyber Monday is a media darling. According to ComScore, it racked up $733 million for e-tailers Monday, up 21% from last year. Setting a record for the largest-ever day of online shopping. Interestingly enough, 60% of dollars spent online on Cyber Monday came from work computers, with the balance coming from home and university computers. Probably not a stat that makes employers happy.
BTW: Shop.org put together a site called CyberMonday to aggregate information on special offers from hundreds of e-tailers. All of Shop.org’s proceeds from items purchased through CyberMonday.com help support a scholarship fund established to provide financial support to students pursuing careers in the e-commerce industry
This post was written by: Kim Mickelsen
November 28th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
One way to avoid the crowds on Black Friday is to check bfads.net starting in early November.
bfads posts the famous door buster deals a few days earlier than the print media so you can line up your wants and needs, PLUS, will give you a heads up on when and if those door buster prices will be available on-line and when. Many will be available for on-line purchase as early as 12:01 AM EST on Thanksgiving Day. In my book, I’d rather be sitting in front of my PC than sitting in a lawn chair in front of a big box in 30 degree temps.
BTW, not only do some retailers will jump the gun a week or so ahead and offer unadvertised (except through bfads) door buster pricing.
November 28th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Very cool. I’ll have to check out bfads.net next year and avoid the day altogether.