Black Friday retailing is an art--and here's how it works

[Louisiana1976]

The art of creating a 4 a.m. shopping frenzy is a complex endeavor on par with creating the perfect Thanksgiving feast. Selecting the items to put on sale and pricing them right is the key to success.

This year, the recipe that retailers concoct is more crucial than ever.

Shoppers are hesitant to buy, and stores have been early with heavy discounts. That means there will probably be even bigger discounts this weekend as retailers try to live up to Black Friday's reputation as a bargain bonanza.

But some are beginning to question how long the super-discounting can last. Independent retailers are already resisting the practice, and some predict that larger chains will be next.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/79572.html

[Warpy]

1. They take a hit on 2-3 of each item

to get the chumps in the store, hoping disappointed shoppers will pick up at least some of the other stuff they're trying to unload before January inventory time.

That's the art and science of Black Friday.

[cutlassmama]

3. Some stores are starting at 3 a.m here

[Warpy]

4. They are here, too, and it's going to be cold.

Some people are just plain nuts enough to do it, whether or not they can afford full price.

I've just never understood it. I've always been able to do better than the Black Friday loss leaders online, as long as I'm not too particular and willing to take refurbished stuff.

[northernlights]

9. it's called a "loss leader"

nothing new, just an old sales tactic taken to such an extreme that some poor worker gets trampled to death. At which point, Wallies World can collect their peasant life insurance -- cuz after all their employees really *are* their most valuable asset -- and replace him with another peasant. Welcome to 3rd world murka.

Hopefully some day "consumers" will wake up, smell the dead rat and stay home.

[phantom power]

2. I expect holiday retail after this weekend to be poor.

This weekend, economic desperation will keep the Black Friday weekend shopping up, since people are more dependent on discounts than ever. After that, I think it's going to be a comparative ghost town.

[bhikkhu]

7. Probably right, at least in my neighborhood

Nobody has much money, even the people with jobs. I have a pretty good job, but my wife's has gone downhill so we've been stretching things thinner and thinner for over a year now. There's stuff we could use, but having no extra money whatsoever, it doesn't matter how deep the discount is.

[endless october]

5. yikes.

can't imagine how people brave those crowds that early.

[Rick Myers]

6. I bet you'll be able to get anything you want...

In the next few weeks... Retail's swan song!!!

[fasttense]

8. For the 1st in my life I went out last year to experience black Friday.

It was very disappointing. The sales were marginal at best. A few dollars off on a handful of items I wanted. The items I really wanted were all sold out at 7 am. The crowds were fair sized, not huge, but large enough to be annoying. It was a very boring sales environment and I'll never do it again.

I got better deals on Christmas eve.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. For many years, my family waited till the first weekend in Jan. to buy.

We actually had Christmas then.
Huge price savings, which mattered to our thin wallet family.

[phasma ex machina]

10. A nationwide retail chain that used to contract with my company absolutely hated sales

but shoppers patiently waited for a "sale." Said shoppers "bit" at even the most transparently phony "sale."