How many shopping days until Christmas?

By Leila Ugincius

Children aren’t the only ones counting down to Dec. 25. Shops have been displaying their Christmas decorations and wares for weeks, in anticipation of the holiday sales. For many, the end-of-the-year sales could mean the difference between a red or a black Christmas, fiscally speaking.

The day after Thanksgiving, better known to shoppers as “Black Friday,” has long been the starting point for looking for the best deals. So, how many shopping days until Christmas? The answer depends on whether the sales begin on Black Friday or Black Thursday.

“Black Thursday” began last year when many retailers — including Kmart and Kohl's — decided to open on Thanksgiving. This year, some stores plan to open even earlier on Thanksgiving — Kmart at 6 a.m. — while others, such Barnes & Noble and Nordstrom are boycotting Thanksgiving shopping altogether in favor of keeping the November holiday a holiday.  

VCU School of Business marketing professor Jodie Ferguson, Ph.D., talks about why retailers would decide — or decline — to open on Thanksgiving, how consumers might respond and what the holiday shopping season might look like in the future.

Last year, we saw a surge of retailers opening on Thanksgiving Thursday. This year, there seems to be a backlash with some stores boycotting opening on Thanksgiving, while others are opening even earlier on Thanksgiving.What are the pros and cons to opening on Thanksgiving Day for holiday sales?

The gain in sales captured by opening five to six hours before competitors who are not opening makes Thanksgiving Thursday very appealing to retailers. By opening on Thursday, retailers are also responding to consumer demand for earlier and more holiday deals. The cons to opening on Thanksgiving Thursday are socially driven. Some retailers feel the pressure to keep Thanksgiving a day off for all employees to spend time with family and friends. Some retailers offer wage incentives such as time and a half for employees willing to work on the holiday.

What is the consumer response to retailers opening on Thanksgiving?

Consumer response to retailers opening on Thanksgiving Day [is] mixed. Last year’s sales on Thanksgiving, coupled with the earlier openings this year, suggest that consumers are willing to take advantage of the early shopping even on a traditionally family-focused day. On the other hand, consumers took to social media last year to voice their outrage and vowed personal boycotts of retailers that took away employees’ holiday day off. Also, for those consumers who do shop on Thanksgiving Day, we don’t know their attitudes towards the retailers that open on Thanksgiving. For example, a consumer may choose to leave her family turkey dinner to shop for an advertised deal, but may also have strong negative feelings towards the retailer for forcing her to shop on Thanksgiving in order to receive that deal.

Consumer research suggests that when a retailer takes on an uncommon business practice such as implementing a new pricing policy, the newness of that practice can bring about consumer judgments of unfairness. Thus, the more retailers willing to open on Thanksgiving and the longer these practices are in place, the less uncommon and possibly the more fair consumers may view the practice of retailers opening on Thanksgiving.

What can we expect this year from retailers for Black Friday? What are the new trends?

This year we are seeing more deals and sales communicated through multiple promotional channels, including television advertising, newspaper circulars, retailer websites, emailings and social media pushes. Consumers are more connected and retailers are responding by using creative message deliveries to catch consumers’ attention. For example, Lowe’s will release six-second Vine videos the week of Black Friday to advertise deals.

With price comparison made easier through mobile devices and online searches, retailers continue to beef up price-matching policies. For example, Wal-Mart offers in-store price matching and is currently working on an online price comparison program to compete more closely with Amazon. In a survey assessing 12 price-setting practices, consumers rated price-matching as the most fair price-setting practice. This holiday season retailers are expected to be monitoring and adjusting prices frequently — even as frequently as changing price by the hour — to match or beat competitors.

Are there any new trends for Cyber Monday?

Similar to Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving Day, retailers are elongating the window for Cyber Monday shopping. Last year Amazon stretched Cyber Monday into a full cyber week. Also, online retailers need to compete on platforms besides price to win customers. Target is an example of a retailer competing on shipping when it announced in October that consumers would receive free standard shipping through Dec. 20.

Do you think the lower gas prices we’re experiencing could affect consumer shopping this holiday season?

Several of the large retailers are encouraging consumers to blend online and brick-and-mortar shopping modes. Wal-Mart and Target offer free same-day store pick up, where consumers order and pay for a product on a retailer’s website and then pick up the item at the store as quickly as an hour after purchase. The drop in gas prices could encourage more shopping like this by making the drive to the store a little cheaper for consumers who want to get the online prices and still have the product in their hands the same day.

How have holiday shopping practices changed over the past 10 years?

Over the past 10 years, retailers have continuously stretched the time frame and shopping method for holiday shopping sales and deals. Several years ago, Black Friday was a one-day, in-store event. Now, holiday deals have been creeping into October, Black Friday has slid into Thanksgiving Day, and Cyber Monday accounts for billions in holiday sales. Black Friday shopping has also evolved from a utilitarian shopping task to more of a cultural event. There have been anecdotes of consumers camping out to get the door-buster deals, fighting over limited supply products and even getting trampled to death. For some consumers, Black Friday has become all about experiencing the chaos, or a fun holiday tradition of shopping together with family and friends. For others, Black Friday is about the thrill of the hunt and the excitement of finding the perfect deal.

What changes can we expect over the next 10 years?

We would expect that the time frames for Black Friday and Cyber Monday will continue to expand, with retailers opening earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving to one up each other. We also expect the trend of blending shopping modes and the use of mobile technology in shopping and promotion tactics to increase. For example, once retailers master geolocation technology, we might expect more retailers to offer in-store, customized deals sent to consumers’ smartphones as they shop. As price-matching reduces the impact of having the lowest price, retailers will continue to look for other ways to compete for shoppers, including offering greater online and in-store experiences.

 

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