Black Friday: A Deal-icious Adventure or a Hectic Waste of Time?

December 5, 2012

 

PRO

By Elizabeth New

Black Friday: one of America’s most infamous traditions. It’s a day where we hurry out of the house after eating a delicious meal with our family, wait hours in lines out in the cold, bust through doors and run after the best deals. It all sounds a bit harsh, but Black Friday is not all doom and gloom. Take a look at the positives. Obviously, the low prices are the best thing. Electronics and appliances are marked down significantly as well as other home goods and even apparel.

But some non-monetary benefits to Black Friday are the new relationships you build while you wait in line, not to mention the family time you have as you shop. This special day of shopping is also found to be scientifically positive. According to Yahoo News, when a consumer is enticed with discounts and coupons, it helps relax them and leads to a better attitude. The source also says research has shown that coupons reduce stress and increased happiness in some consumers. This article also talked about how waiting in line on Black Friday is not as exhausting as some people believe it to be. In fact, they conducted 38 interviews, mainly with females, and found that this has been practiced for generations and has been a major part of their Thanksgiving traditions. So, waiting in line is actually a great opportunity to make friends, “people watch” and make up fun games to pass the time.

Some other perks of Black Friday are the new amenities that shopping malls are adding to cater to their customers. Since Internet shopping is fast and easy, shopping at malls today is not as popular as it was in the 80s. According to Retail Wire, some malls are adding valet parking, coat check areas, and child care centers. Additionally, they are adding “rejuvenation stations” where consumers can get free coffee, snacks, and Wi-Fi. These “stations” also provide sitting areas and places to charge their phones and other gadgets.

In the end, there are more benefits to Black Friday other than great discounts and deals. For those of you who are nervous about venturing out on Black Friday, focus on these positives and try it next year!

 

CON

By Kristina Antol

Thanksgiving has just ended, and the holiday shopping season is here. Black Friday marks the beginning of the chaotic shopping season that causes every mall to become comparable to a jungle. Black Friday advertisements flooded our e-mail accounts and replaced all other commercials on TV. These ads promised us the “lowest prices of the season” and incredibly high discounts on all of the hottest items for this Christmas. People wait in long lines that wrap around stores, and sometimes run down blocks, hours before the stores actually open. But the question remains, are the deals really worth competing for with thousands of other shoppers and waiting in never-ending lines?  No, I don’t think so.

As a retail associate at American Eagle, a clothing store for teens and young adults, I am a primary witness of the madness that comes with Black Friday. Shoppers line up in front of the doors, compete for a spot in front, and rush in as we open the doors. They rummage through the same piles that we will have for the following weeks at comparable prices. Sometimes, their purchases come out to be more expensive than if they were shopping with a coupon or purchased a sale item during the rest of the year. All items, even ones that were previously marked down, are marked full price to compensate for the large promotion. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, many popular gifts, such as Ugg boots, were actually on sale in September and October. During these months, the boots were cheaper than on Black Friday. Stores run sales year round and send out coupons almost monthly to draw customers in to their stores. Shopping before the holiday season saves shoppers a lot of time and allows them to avoid long lines they would encounter during Black Friday.

Most people who shop on Black Friday are looking for electronics and bigger, more expensive items. They claim that the wait is worth it because they are going to get an awesome deal on the newest technology, like a new Toshiba 40’ HDTV that Best Buy promotes for a low price of $179.99, but only while supply lasts. “If a major brand is on sale, shoppers can count on extremely limited quantity,” says Mike Fridgen, CEO of Decide Inc., a consumer-price research company. In fact, nine out of 11 major consumer-product categories averaged a lower price in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, he says. The problem is that the key items these stores guarantee at extremely low prices are stocked in very low quantity, causing your long, cold wait to be pointless.

An alternative to shopping for electronics on Black Friday is Cyber Monday.  Cyber Monday offers just as many deals without the hassle of shopping on Black Friday. For example, Sprint.com will offer the Samsung Galaxy S III Android 4.1 Smartphone for only $49.99. Also, key stores that market Black Friday deals, like Target, K-mart, and Best Buy all take part in Cyber Monday, along with many websites that offer cheaper alternatives to buying from brand sites.

So, before you leave you leave the comfort of your home on Thursday night, think twice before you venture out into the cold and decide your purchases will truly be worth it.