Black Friday season has officially begun
The first leaked ad is out. What kinds of bargains can Americans expect to get them to loosen their purse strings?
This post comes from Melinda Fulmer at MSN Money.
Have they started playing Christmas carols in your store already?
Halloween is still two full weeks away, but retailers are already starting their full-court press for your holiday shopping dollars.
The first Black Friday ad -- from hardware chain Harbor Freight Tools -- was leaked to deal sites earlier this week, officially kicking off the start of what has now become Black Friday season on the Web, a period where the nation's largest retailers leak their post-Thanksgiving shopping ads to different sites to try and entice shoppers out to their stores on the traditional holiday shopping kickoff.
Black Friday, so named for its ability to push retailers' bottom line into the black (i.e., profit) has gotten bigger each of the past post-recession years as buyers have become more deal-conscious. How big? Almost 22 million people shopped post-turkey dinner last year, up from 10.3 million in 2005, according to the National Retail Federation.
This year, however, retail analysts are expecting a tougher sell, with only 44% of consumers saying they are likely to shop on Black Friday, down from 47% last year and 52% in 2009, according to a survey by Accenture.
Fantastic deals
One-quarter of shoppers say they plan to have a "thrifty" holiday season and 18% say they will just be focused on "necessities." Only high-income shoppers are expected to loosen the purse strings this year, boosting holiday sales a projected 2.4% from last year, according to the NRF.
"'Precision shoppers' will dominate," says Janet Hoffman, managing director of Accenture's retail practice. "They will be very targeted about where and what they buy, and will be more inclined to shop around for the best value."
In other words, retailers had better offer some fantastic deals on Black Friday or shoppers will take a pass and wait for stores to offer desperate last-minute bargains. Post continues after video.
What are shoppers coveting this year? Smartphones and tablets are expected to be among the hotter items. Retailers are shipping more of these items than PCs this year, according to The Economist.
BlackFriday2011.com, an offshoot of the BradsDeals site, expects big price drops on e-readers such as the Nook and Kindle, as well as bargains on Samsung's Galaxy Tab and other Android tablets. And this year 32-inch backlit LCD HDTVs should hit a new low at $200.
Here at Smart Spending we'll help you plot your holiday shopping strategy in coming weeks, alerting you to some of the hotter deals and some of the best incentives retailers are dangling via social media, the Web, and on your mobile phone.
What's on your list this year?
More on MSN Money:
Here is something to try. We did it 3 years ago and have not looked back.
Stop the excessive gift spending/giving at Christmas. 3 years ago, our entire family (parents, brothers, sisters, kids) all decided enough was enough. No more spending $700+ each year, running around for hours and hours on end, fighting malls, traffic... Just to give gifts that next year, we have completely forgotten about.
3 years ago we decided to take a "break" from this madness. We limited our gifts to what could fit in our stockings and that was it. Nothing else. We laugh as we give gifts of "Tums" (to the older parents), socks, underwear, etc.. We turned Christmas from a literal $4000/year combined spending spree to under $150. And things we could find at the dollar store, or in our everyday trips.
We still enjoy the time together, the dinner, the movie watching by the fireplace. The only thing that is different that instead of hundreds of packages under the tree, we have our 8 stockings.
Screw big retail and their corporate GREED. I don't need their overpriced trash to have a happy holidays.
Christmas is my favorite holiday and I have no intention to scale back this year or any foreseeable year to come. It simply makes me happy.
I give from my heart and mostly adhere to my family's needs, not necessarily their wishes. As for all of you who decry spending money on all of the foreign made (crappy) products I respect your choices not to buy those. However, how many of you own a PC, an iPod, a Cell Phone, an iPad, an E-Reader, dishware, clothing, home accessories, tennis shoes, regular shoes, furniture, light bulbs, any toys for young children or grandchildren? The grand majority of these things are made overseas and many are very nice items. How many of these items have you removed from your homes? Personally. I can't really go out of my way to avoid these items. I'm sure they are here to stay.
In regard to becoming a slave to debt, that does not happen in our house unless you are saying I'm a slave for having a mortgage, insurance, property taxes, etc. I carry zero balances on the 2 credit cards I have. If I happen to make a purchase, I pay it off in full each cycle. Mostly, I save. I knew Christmas was coming and since last June I have been putting aside as much money as I possibly can. Dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, penny's and as much as I can from my paycheck. Come Christmas, every present, the homemade candy, the complete dinner, meals for the out-of-towners, et al is paid in full.
I took a awhile here, but the point is, Christmas's need not be lavish, purchase a well needed gift or two for the loved ones. Save as much money as you can during the year, it really adds up. Leave ALL credit cards at home. Buy only American if you wish but the most important thing is, for that ONE single day, tune out, I Really mean that. Tune out to the anger you may feel, tune out all of your worries. Tune out everything EXCEPT, the love that you feel towards your loved ones and dearest friends, the joy of being together, the gratefulness for the food that lay before you. Savor the day ~~~
Thankfully my family does not celebrate Christmas. I don't have money to waste and we are expecting our first child a week after Christmas so if they have great deals on diapers then I will be there :o) I think this year Americans would make a great point if they did not participate in this brash consumerism-might make more a point than Occupy Wall Street.
What is all this bitching. If you dont' want to buy your kids presents, then don't. They probably don't deserve them. Me - I'm going to buy my kids everything I can afford. Judge me if you must, but it's the reason I work all year. To provide what I wasn't provided with.
Mormons rule the world.
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