In previous years, Black Friday has been a busy day for people in the U.S. as people gather together to prepare for the day they are about to have. However, the past couple of years have been less chaotic and the deals have been even less enthralling. Whether that be due to inflation or lack of advertising, people have certainly taken less action when it comes to Black Friday.
Usually, Black Friday is a serious day for people to get great deals on TVs, gadgets, technology, and other products. However, this year especially, it has seemed as though, while many companies are advertising to have “all-time low” deals, none of them are as low as you would expect. In-store discounts are only about 20% off of certain items, according to duncangrp.com. In previous years, those deals have been much better but due to inflation; they have gone from an average of 30% to around 20% off, cnn.com says.
But it’s not just the discounts that have decreased; the aggression that follows Black Friday has seemed to leave too. Whenever you think of Black Friday, you would probably picture two people fighting over a TV, a rush of patrons running into a store, and a line outside a store that goes on for a mile. However, in the past couple of years, most of the shopping has switched to online so nearly all of this chaos has gone away. This conventional way of shopping has taken the flare out of Black Friday shopping.
Since most shopping has been conducted online in the past few years, Cyber Monday has become slightly more popular than Black Friday. Cyber Monday is the first weekday after Black Friday when online items are on sale. Although you can also buy items for sale on Black Friday, businesses that promote Cyber Monday tend to give better deals on that day. Even so, online shopping on Cyber Monday doesn’t give the same Black Friday vibe as it has in the past.
Since Black Friday and Cyber Monday have seemed less serious these past couple of years, people are starting to speculate if the deals are really worth it. And while, yes, many stores give great deals, it is always important to be wary of the ones that are just trying to get your money. Black Friday is the perfect day for smaller businesses or people to get their viewers’ attention for a quick buck, which is why there are different scams on Black Friday. Brands who seem legit will send emails or text messages to their audience and try to get them to order a product for a “low low price” but will end up scamming them out of their money, kfor.com says.
When North sophomore Daylene Diaz is asked about why she thinks sale prices have been so underwhelming, she says, “I think most companies can’t really afford selling products that are [in] high demand for so little because of inflation. But they create the illusion that they have amazing deals by practically giving out products that no one really wants and since people wait until this time of year to get items for Christmas, they just go ahead and purchase thinking they got a good deal but in reality, it was basically sold at the same price.”
While Black Friday may not be the same as it used to be, there are still some good deals that will be worth your time and money, just be careful of the ones who are not as seemingly innocent.
Happy shopping!
