Here Are Black Friday’s Biggest Winners and Losers

Wal-Mart said Friday that Thanksgiving was one of its top online-shopping days this year and that about 70 percent of the traffic to its website came from mobile devices. This was because of the heavier traffic for Black Friday online sales. After the tremendous success black Friday, the cyber Monday is will be the next shopping attraction.

Cyber Monday may be in danger of losing its online sales title. The most popular day to shop online was Black Friday, up 1.3 percent from previous year to 74 percent, followed by Saturday (49 percent), Thanksgiving (36 percent), and Sunday (34 percent).

The U.S. holiday shopping season is expanding, and Black Friday is no longer the kickoff for the period it once was, with more retailers starting holiday promotions as early as October and running them until Christmas Eve.

But Nassau Community College marketing professor Jack Mandel warns online shoppers that they won’t necessarily find the best bargains on that day. “Retailers know consumers are spreading out their holiday budgets to shop throughout the season”. In fact, approximately one-third of its transactions were done through a mobile device.

“It may not be the exact lowest price but it was a really good deal”, she said.

Seminole Town Center’s general manager said the shopping center wasn’t as packed this Black Friday, but he attributes that to opening doors on Thanksgiving.

How will Cyber Monday fare remains to be seen – it was the company’s biggest online shopping day in history previous year. Adobe Digital Insights’ chief analyst and director Tamara Gaffney mentioned the drop in sales in online sales following the United States presidential elections and said that the Black Friday online sales are expected cover up for all losses.

The National Retail Federation coined the term “Cyber Monday” in a 2005 press release after there was a spike in online sales the Monday after Thanksgiving, rather than the weekend. Several stores that tried it past year, decided it wasn’t worth the effort and continued to focus on Black Friday.

An Offers.com survey showed that 94 percent of Americans now do at least some of their shopping online.

A good deal on a drone?

Taking place on the first Monday following Thanksgiving and Black Friday (this year the 28 November), Cyber Monday typically revolves around online retailers and tech products. According to WMDT interviewee Pocomoke City resident Carolyn Ennis, head to the shopping centers during the morning – as early as 5 a.m. – to avoid the long lines and possible violence. People usually buy products for personal use and for gifting others also. In-store visits dropped a combined 1 per cent during the two days from a year earlier, ShopperTrak, a retail data provider, said.

“My mom and I, it’s our little tradition to come out on Black Friday or the night before”, Garrison said.

Some reasons, Field said, are fewer store openings on Thanksgiving Day and online shopping.