Aplus.net Blog

Black Friday has become the unrivaled hottest day of the year for retail commerce in the U.S.

Evolved from the decades-old tradition of offering huge sales on the day after Thanksgiving in order to entice many shoppers (who usually have the day off of work) to begin their holiday shopping, Black Friday has grown on an almost exponential scale over the past decade.

(It’s called Black Friday because it’s the day which many companies apparently go “in the black” in their financial ledgers. In other words, it’s the day when many retailers start to turn a profit.)

Naturally, this phenomenon of a blockbuster post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping boost has spread to online business, as well. Given the tendency of today’s consumers to transition to online shopping more and more each year, online retailers are starting to see similar spikes in activity over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. And of course, many websites court this business, smartly offering incentives such as free shipping and handling or coupons.

In fact, in an attempt to take full advantage of this shopping frenzy, the online retailing industry coined the word “Cyber Monday” to try to entice customers to continue shopping on Monday. Many online retailers offer special deals and promotions to shoppers on Cyber Monday as well as on Black Friday.

This year, these trends may be slowed just a bit; ComScore reports that Black Friday online sales were up from last year, but not by as big an increase as usual. Blame the current economic uncertainties. At any rate, activity was high enough to temporary shut down a few major retailers, who weren’t quite prepared for the boost in traffic.

Monday may tell a different story, though. If Cyber Monday continues to draw large online crowds, it’ll be yet another indicator of how much the modern consumer now prefers online shopping.