According to “The Branding of Black Friday” by John Tozzi, Black Friday has not always been this large of a retail ordeal as it is now. But starting last year, Black Friday has inched its way into Thanksgiving with many deals and stores starting as early as 6pm this year, on what I am calling “Black Thursday.”
In my opinion this seems a bit drastic and unnecessary, but for those of you who love the wait, the cold, and the anticipation of scoring an Apple iPad at a discount, you are in luck this year. All thanks to a lot of enticing retail store direct marketing. Retail circulars and online posts showing great deals have been up for a few weeks and will continue to gain the attention of many.
What retailers are opening even earlier on “Black Thursday” and how are they using direct marketing to get customers in their doors?
Wal-mart’s circular proclaims that the sales will begin at 6pm this year! That is two hours earlier than any year prior, meaning that people will line up way before that time and thus will cut into traditional family time on Thanksgiving Day. Wal-mart is getting the attention of their customers through their ads in direct mail circulars, online circulars. Beginning around the first week of November, their ads began leaking to consumers with promises of having 65% more televisions than they have carried in any years past. These types of promises are enticing the customers to come to the stores and make their dinners earlier just so they can score a great deal. Tablets, laptops, and televisions are just a few of the items that will be included in this “Black Thursday’s” sale.
Target is also opening the doors early at 8pm on Thursday night. They’ve already released their Black Friday specials and even a map of the layout of the store including the whereabouts of each of their specials.
These are a couple examples of many. Toys R Us, Macy’s, J.C. Penney, and Kohl’s will also open on Thursday. Kmart is amongst the stores opening on Thursday and will be open for 41 hours straight on Thanksgiving! While this trend is alleviating the Friday morning crowds, is it taking away the time that families have to spend together on the actual holiday?
Since Thanksgiving falls a lot closer to the holidays than usual this year, the retail industry is expanding their big sales period to help grow their in-store sales. This is something that marketers are taking advantage of and only time will tell how successful they are in attracting customers through their doors beginning during dinnertime on Thanksgiving Day.
Sources:
McGinnis, A. (2013, November 12). Walmart to launch Black Friday sales earlier. USA Today. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from http://www.usatoday.com
Mitchell, B. (2013, November 12). Walmart’s Black Friday ads. WTKRcom. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from http://wtkr.com
Tozzi, J. (2012, November 20). The Branding of Black Friday . Myth Busting . Retrieved November 15, 2013, from http://www.businessweek.com
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Sarah Lamb is a Junior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. She is a Marketing major with a minor in Human Resource Development. Currently interning on the campus of JMU with Aramark as a marketing intern for dining services and has also completed an internship with The Campus Special LLC. during the Summer of 2013.