You have to wonder when a trade group's jargon becomes part of the daily lexicon for the general public.
Black Friday is now a national phenomenon much like Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, halftime show at the Super Bowl and grilling dogs Labor Day weekend.
Retailers have instilled both the "God of fear" and getting out of bed before the sun rises into consumers to buy TV's and toys at ridiculous prices. Millions around the USA did just that Friday AM and for all that, sales for the weekend were even with last year.
In case you forgot, last year was a bust. So what does the rest of the holiday season have in store and since this season is much shorter, what will it take for consumers to buy more while paying more?
But let's get back to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Do you know where the term Black Friday came from? It came back in the day before the Internet that traditional retailers actually moved from the red (losing money) to the black (making money). Retailers made all their money from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It's like when do American's make money after paying all their taxes (I think it's the middle of May)?
These days, Walmart, Target and Costco are making money well before Thanksgiving. But because it's become such a phenomenon, they will continue to keep pushing this trend.
Cyber Monday was invented because online companies were jealous of retailers and they needed their own term. Cyber Monday refers to the day that consumers shop the most online after exhausting themselves over the weekend and then come to work and use company computers and Internet to make more purchases.
So let me ask, were you one of the ones standing in line at 3AM at Best Buy to buy a 42" TV for $397 and/or are you buying online today because it's Cyber Monday?
I have a better idea regardless. Let's contract with ESPN and make shopping a sport. That way we can get all the stats, favorite shoppers and perhaps Best Buy and Walmart can even sell tickets for the grand stands.
Happy Cyber Monday!
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