by Doug Desjardins
Retailers have always been anxious to get the ball rolling on holiday sales, and this year is no exception. And with several surveys showing that consumers plan to start Christmas shopping earlier than usual this year, retailers are already one-upping each other. 
As usual, Wal-Mart was first out of the box. In mid-October, it launched its first Black Friday promotion by pricing pre-orders on ten soon-to-be-released hardcover books by popular authors like Stephen King and James Patterson at $10, a move that started a skirmish with Amazon.com. One day after Wal-Mart's announcement, Amazon lowered its price to $9 and Wal-Mart countered by dipping its price to $8.99. Not to be left out, Target chimed in and matched Wal-Mart's $8.99 price. Target.com president Steve Eastman stated that the offer was designed "to make the shopping experience easier and more affordable for our guests."
That same week, Wal-Mart said it would follow up its 2008 Black Friday promotion of '10 Toys for Under $10' with '100 Toys for Under $10' in 2009. Key rival Toys "R" Us countered with an announcement that it would more than 1,000 toys this year for under $10.
Toys "R" Us may also get an early jump on Black Friday by opening its stores Thanksgiving Day. An October 16 story in the New Jersey-based newspaper The Record said that Toys "R" is planning to open its stores on Thanksgiving from noon to 6 p.m. and then open again at midnight for Black Friday doorbuster sales. Toys "R" Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh did not confirm or deny the report but said executives "did have some conversations about expanded holiday hours."
Starting Black Friday promotions on Thanksgiving could be the start of a trend. National Retail Federation (NRF) spokeswoman Ellen Davis said that 14.7 percent of consumers shopped on Thanksgiving in 2008, up from 10.2% in 2006. Davis said it's unclear whether the trend is being driven "by consumers shopping more because stores are open or more retailers are opening stores on Thanksgiving because consumers want to shop."
In any event, it seems that consumers are more interested in starting their shopping before Black Friday. An NRF survey conducted in September showed that 22 percent of respondents plan to start their holiday shopping in October and that 29 percent plan to start in November, a finding that indicates more than half of consumers may start shopping before Black Friday arrives.
But this year's early start is nothing new. In 2008, Kmart raised the bar on early promotions last year when it staged a store-wide pre-Black Friday special the weekend following Halloween.
Footnotes
COUPON TIME
We've gotten an early start too--our Black Friday page is ready and waiting.
2 Responses to “Black Friday: Mass Merchants Get an Early Start”
It is good news for people who are planing to shopping on Christmas day.