Move over, 12 days of Christmas. Wal-Mart is starting a new holiday tradition: Five days of Black Friday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the mega-retailer announced that they’re ditching the annual frenzy usually reserved for the day after Thanksgiving only and spreading their deals on TVs, electronics, home goods and more over a five-day period. In recent years, stores have been opening earlier and earlier – some stores’ sales even taking over Thanksgiving dinner itself – and lines have stretched around corners. This inefficient holiday tradition seems stale in the age of online shopping, and Wal-Mart is making moves to adapt to consumers’ habits.
The five-day Black Friday sales will last the final week of November and into December, putting less pressure on a solo day of sales. WSJ reports that according to Wal-Mart chief merchant Duncan Mac Naughton, the company’s decision to change their model is to cater to shopper’s schedules, and reflect a growing disdain for camping out in the middle of the night. It’s true that when customers can stay home, track and score deals online, and have gifts delivered to their door, Black Friday madness looks a lot less appealing.
WSJ quoted Mac Naughton: “It used to be called Black Friday, then it became Thursday, now it’s a week long. Maybe we should just call it November.”
Spreading out the days of deals means Wal-Mart can keep shoppers engaged by offering certain sales on different days, and also lessen the very real in-store chaos: Back in 2008, a Wal-Mart store clerk was trampled to death by Black Friday shoppers. This year, the sales will begin online and in store on Thanksgiving morning, adding more deals at 6 p.m. Thursday, then continue with sales over the weekend, ending on Cyber Monday.
So although Wal-Mart is spreading out the savings, the actual holiday of Thanksgiving still isn’t spared by the retailer’s sales.
Other stores have begun reducing the singular day impact of Black Friday, while offering deals on Thanksgiving. Target, Best Buy and Amazon all have holiday deals beginning earlier in the month, and running through the holiday.
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