As the cooler weather moves in you can be sure that the first signs of Christmas will not be far behind. You are likely to see a snowman or Santa displayed next to scarecrows and pumpkins. However, for retailers the Christmas season starts even earlier with Black Friday this year.
English: Black Friday shoppers in the morning at Wal-Mart store #2137 at New Hope Commons in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Companies start advertising and pushing promotions way before the actually holiday season. For example, Wal-Mart kicked off their new layaway holiday promotion a mere two weeks after Labor Day; not to be outdone two days later both Kmart and Toys R Us announced that they would waive all layaway fees completely.
If you think this was early the head honchos at Neiman Marcus quite possibly beat everyone to the punch by displaying a full range of Christmas trees and holiday décor in August.
Many retailers are concerned that rising food and energy costs along with the results of the presidential election will cause consumers to hold onto more of their money; so they try to come up with different ways to convince consumers to do their shopping both early and often. They spend months vying for consumer’s attention and their money. By doing these promotions while the weather is still warm retailers believe that they can get themselves in front of consumers as a way to ensure their loyalty. Retailers also believe that when consumers are not faced with a holiday deadline they will spend more money earlier.
Traditionally Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, has been the official kick-off for the holiday shopping season; however, many retailers are creeping towards making it Black Thursday by opening on Thanksgiving. For example, Toys R Us announced that they will begin opening at 8:00pm on Thanksgiving which is one hour earlier than they usually do and Wal-Mart will do the same, rather than their normal midnight. Even Target decided to forego its normal opening time from 5:00 am on Black Friday to 12:00 am on Thanksgiving.
Will all of these changes generate more money for retailers or will it make no difference to consumers? Only time will tell.
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