Black Friday Approaches for Wary Consumers

By Lucy Mitchell
Nov 6 2010

The busiest shopping day of the year is rapidly approaching and consumers seem to be wary of the event according to a report released this morning.

Black Friday, the annual shop-a-thon that follows Thanksgiving, has always been a time of great confusion and usually some good deals. However, this year retailers are hoping that consumers will once again jam their stores.

Since the financial crisis hit, Black Friday has lost some of its luster. Consumers have stayed home, looking for deals online and avoiding the crush of shoppers who wanting that one certain item. Historically retailers have offered deep discounts to shoppers who brave the cold and early morning hours to hit the stores the day after Thanksgiving.

However, there is still fear in the hearts of the many retailers around the US. With retail sales still well below what they should be, they fear that consumers will once again take to the internet to find their Christmas presents.

Many retailers have started offering Black Friday sales through their online outlets. However, they are far less expansive than the location-based sales.

More often than not the actual Black Friday sales will offer high ticket items so far below the regular price that it is hard to pass them up. But, normally the stores will have but one or two of the actual products in their stores.

Experts in the retail world expect the shopping numbers to increase by 2.3% this year. While that appears low, the experts have said that it could mean millions in profits for the struggling stores across the US on single day of the year.