Retailers Extend Shopping Season, With Less Emphasis On Black Friday Deals
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Retailers are offering some great deals right now that normally would have been reserved for Black Friday.
Associate Professor of Marketing at Saint Joseph's University Dr. David Allan says extending the holiday shopping season is an advantage to retailers during a crucial time of year.
"The longer the season, the more sales they will get. Now, you could also argue that the shorter period of time creates more of a frenzy, but the frenzy at some point became dangerous from, I think, a liability standpoint with people trampling other people on the way into the store when the doors opened at midnight."
And Allan says retailers trying to give consumers more time to get the gifts they want for the holidays actually motivates shoppers to buy more, "because you get in there and the really good item isn't there. It just didn't seem like it was worth it."
Allan predicts it will be a better season for retailers, even though there is no one "must have" item, consumers seem in the mood to spend more this year than in previous years.
