Is Black Friday Still Worth It? Most Shoppers Say No
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If you're planning on foregoing Black Friday shopping for a slow, leftover-pie-for-breakfast morning, you're not alone.
A whopping 76% of people strongly or somewhat agree that dealing with crowds the day after Thanksgiving just isn't worth it, according to a new survey from the data intelligence firm Morning Consult. Likewise, more than half of the 2,200 people polled by the firm believe the same deals you get on Black Friday will be available throughout the holiday shopping season.
This sentiment could be a lingering effect of COVID-19 era shopping.
Black Friday, which originated in the mid-1900s, according to CNN Money, has grown into a national phenomenon, where bargain hunters camp out in front of retailers like Walmart, Best Buy and Target hours before their doors even open.
But the annual shopping holiday, which falls on November 26 this year, looks a lot different these days. During the peak of the pandemic, crowds were thin. The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, for one, saw hundreds of shoppers instead of its usual thousands, according to CBS News. Macy's flagship store in Manhattan was a ghost town.
Make no mistake: Black Friday is still an American tradition, and there are still discounts to be had — if you know where and how to look.
In recent years, many customers have been opting for online shopping from the comfort of their homes, and retailers have started kicking off deals as early as October and offering discounts that run through the holidays.
This year, retailers also dealing with a global supply chain disaster that has led to shortages and high prices. And a retail labor shortage means companies will have to rely on shopping apps to move products off of store shelves, customer experience expert Blake Morgan wrote in Forbes.
“Supply chains are a mess right now, and add to that shipping delays compounded by the disruptions and the fact that it's peak shipping season, and it's just a perfect storm for a significant order delay,” Julie Ramhold, consumer analyst for the shopping site dealnews.com, previously told Money.
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