A current event that is coming up very shortly that will have an effect on the retail industry is Black Friday. This event is the day after Thanksgiving- it is known as a day where companies hold record sales and release items in anticipation of the holiday season. Shoppers stay up all night and wait in lines for hours to get their hands on certain goods for holiday gifts, and to snag that sale to save money. While still in an uncertain economy, Black Friday sales may not be as high as usual, however, this day will continue it's trend as being a large and important day for retailers everywhere.
Although Black Friday is known for the large sales, it is still a day for an unusual profit to be brought in because of the large crowds of people purchasing these sale items. Basically, while stores will lower prices, they will still bring in lots of money because of the number of people. One of these companies looking to be open as much as possible on Black Friday is Kohl's. They will open at the earliest they ever have, opening doors at midnight on November 25, and stay open for 24 hours. Kohl's is following trends of Macy's and Target, who are also opening earlier this year than in the past. Companies traditionally opened very early in the morning, around 4 or 5 a.m. and stayed open through the night into the next day. However, stores are now opening even earlier than that to give themselves more time for sales. Some companies, such as Best Buy and Toys R Us, are not yet releasing the time they will open, although last year Toys R Us did not even wait until Black Friday and instead opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. All of these stores are huge hot spots for holiday shopping and are staying optimistic and expecting large sales increases this Black Friday, even in the midst of a bad economy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204528204577011401100429294.html
Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI see how the companies are trying to expand their sales by opening earlier. It makes a lot of sense for them to do this, because obviously, they will have more time to attract customers. But, it is interesting to see how they are taking this risk even though they suggest that the sales would not be as high as usual. This sales can certainly boost up the retail industry and its companies, we got to see how it will work out. If it doesn't work out for them, they can have high cost because of their expanded open hours. They have to make the decision at the margin.
Black friday is very important for many retailers. It gets customers in the store and buying products. This is very important because shoppers are expected to spend 4.6% less this coming holiday season, which is november and december. I think that the "word of mouth" plays a role in this as well. For instance, if you were to buy a 50" tv from best buy and then tell me what a great deal it was and how much you like the tv, it would make me want to go and buy one from best buy or at least make me want to go in the store which is the objective for many of the retailers.
ReplyDelete-Dave