With Black Friday deals behind us and Christmas fast approaching it’s a good time to reflect back on this year’s biggest deals. I was always a big fan of Black Friday, particularly for video game shopping. Unfortunately, the last few years have been lacking to say the least. After this year’s disastrous sales, I am left wondering, what happened to Black Friday?
The Golden Years of Black Friday
Every probably has their own version of the best years of Black Friday sales. My favorites were in the early 2010s, but looking back, the 90s and 2000s were equally great. Now, I’m not about to get into the history of Black Friday or whether the consumerism surrounding it is a bad thing. I will say that the big sales of yesteryear made it possible for many people to afford Christmas gifts that they otherwise may not be able to.
Back then, people would often camp out in front of stores days before the sale began. While it is a bit sad, people would often forego spending Thanksgiving with their family in order to score a deal on a new computer or big-screen TV.
Retailers notoriously got few of the heavily advertised doorbusters, which often led to customers fighting. I am certainly glad those days are over, but people often forget how many great deals were available outside of those limited big-ticket items. Sure, you could save over $500 on a new TV, but you could also save 50% or more on other electronics and video games. I would easily fill up a basket of these items and save significantly more than those people fighting for TVs.
There was even a period of time when you could price-match sales at other retailers. My personal favorite money-saving method was stacking Best Buy’s video game sales with their Gamer’s Club discount. Unfortunately, those days are long gone, and it doesn’t look like they will ever come back.
The Black Friday Creep Begins
One of the central themes of the 2010s was the Black Friday creep, which saw stores open increasingly earlier. Essentially, each retailer would try to beat out the other. Stores traditionally opened at their standard time or a little earlier on Friday. However, that began moving earlier and earlier in the late 2000s. By the early 2010s stores were opening at midnight on Friday.
As the years went by and competition ratcheted up, the opening time eventually made it to the afternoon on Thanksgiving day. The whole thing was pretty ridiculous considering Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have and retailers ate into that for pure profits. Now, I don’t blame anyone who worked on Thanksgiving day, and I know for a fact that many people enjoyed doing it. But it is sad that things got to that point.
Back to the creep, it was actually pretty convenient as stores had staggered openings. I would go hit Walmart, then Target, then Best Buy, before going to smaller stores like Hastings and even Sears. There are three Walmarts in my area and each one of them would always end up with something a little different, so I would be sure to hit each of them throughout the night. The next morning I would get up early and do it all again at the retailers that were still opening on Friday, like Sam’s, Home Depot, and Lowes.
The Pandemic Upends Black Friday Shopping
Things were already coming to a head in the years before the pandemic, but that certainly shut the door on Black Friday as we knew it. From a chip shortage to limited stock and social distancing, most retailers had limited in-store sales. That seemingly empowered them to not open on Thanksgiving day.
However, it also jumpstarted a new trend of starting sales at the beginning of November. Now instead of sales slowly creeping up earlier, we jumped several weeks. Obviously, it wasn’t practical to have a traditional sale in 2020, but turning Black Friday into a month long spectacle wasn’t the answer. In the years since most retailers have stuck to a similar system where they have multiple small sales throughout the month of November.
You Call This a Sale?
With the 2024 holiday shopping season in full swing, I can honestly say that I have no idea what happened to the sales this year. Now, there were certainly some good deals, especially on video games. However, there were very few big sales, with almost everything being online this year. I am not one to say “This was the worst Black Friday ever” because those people literally sound like a broken record every year.
I will say that most of the sales weren’t remarkable enough to dump a fortune, especially at a time when the costs of everyday items are still rising. I believe one problem in the stagnation of Black Friday is that big ticket items like TVs have finally reached their floor, with little room for major price drops. On the other hand, video games have been going up in price and holding at these higher price points for several years.
Movies are all but non-existent as most people have switched to streaming. Honestly, I am most disappointed in the lack of sales at the big box home improvement stores. Home Depot and Lowes always had excellent deals on a range of power tools, but those too are few and far between. Additionally, Lego sales were also few and far between compared to the last couple of years.
Where Do Black Friday Sales Go From Here?
Let’s set the record straight, Black Friday isn’t going away anytime soon. However, if sales continue to slow up shoppers will likely begin to pay less attention. That probably won’t be as big of a deal for retailers as you may think since people would then be left paying full price for their Christmas gifts.
The reality is that is a long way away because the data shows that Black Friday continues to break records. I think we will continue seeing electronics on sale, but the better deals will be on larger TVs that have a higher margin. Toys, video games, clothing, and home goods should continue to be on sale, but at a lower discount level.
Keep in mind that these sales also hinge on how the economy is doing in future years. A lot of factors are still up in the air as people struggle to cover basic living expenses. Plus, the threat of new tariffs could drive prices higher. If retailers do begin to feel the squeeze from consumers not spending, then they will be more inclined to have better sales. However, those sales may barely offset the price increases caused by tariffs.
I personally hope that sales shift back to the week of Thanksgiving or even the weekend following it. With that said, I do not want stores to open on Thanksgiving again. That was a dumb decision that too many companies got on board with. I really believe retailers will slowly shift back to bigger sales and potentially in-store sales, but until then we will just have to deal with mediocre online specials.
