The Bargain Hunters Hunt

As the holiday season steadily approaches, all stores alike are making the final preparations for their anxiously awaiting shoppers. In a society were capitalism is not only commercialized, but accepted, Black Friday should come as no exception then that of any other sale throughout the year, or does it?
“I feel like the sales are just hyped up to be bigger than what they are, but there will be another one just like it at some point during the year,” says Eastern Michigan University Senior Mechelle Parham.
According to a report from ABC news, an estimated 140 million shoppers are expected to rush stores this holiday season. Retailers are said to be expecting 4 million more shoppers than last year, which accumulates to 138 million shoppers setting a new record for Black Friday. This seasons sales are projected to be 2.3 percent higher than that of last year; the strongest showing since 2006.
“Its usually extremely busy. The focus is servicing. Whatever they want, right when they want it,” says Lakeside Mall employee, Fernando Due.
Which brings us to the question of when are the so-called “Door-buster Sales” available for customers?
“They only apply that sale to items that were going on sale anyways. There will never be a door buster sale on a PS3 (Play station) or 4g I-pod. Just some aftermarket blue-ray player,” said Due. The 20-year old leverage associate who has worked with Guess over 1-year went on to say that the sales offered within most retail stores are on different on Black Friday, than that of any other sales on any other given day.
“I definitely just went out for the hype,” says Parham,
“There is a visceral excitement to going to stores on Black Friday; its almost like a sporting event,” said online Dan De Giandpre, editor in chief of online shopping and discount guide dealnews.com.
The website tries to bring customers the best deals available on the hottest items on the internet. It scores over 2,000 online retailers and tens of thousands of deals to deliver the best 100 plus deals each and every day, the kind of deals normally seen on Black Friday.
Retailers count on the excitement of Black Friday to ignite holiday shopping so the use big, attention-grabbing discounts to lure shoppers. The most notable deals are usually on big-ticket purchases like televisions, computers and other electronics, de Grandpre said.
Some retailers caution that with much less-inventory this year, they may no longer have everything you want closer to Christmas, and you may see fewer end-of season deals.
It’s safe to say that the glow from a record-setting Black Friday weekend has most industry watchers feeling pretty good. But retailers have been down this path before. Typically, shoppers retreat for the most part until the weekend before Christmas. That makes retailers nervous, especially this year because Christmas falls on a Saturday, leaving one less weekend to generate sales. Since the recession officially ended in June 2009, merchants have been trying to discern how shopping behavior has changed. One shift is clear: Deals drive traffic.