Savings are a shopaholic’s best friend. Take myself, for example, a college student who has traditionally celebrated Black Friday for as long as I can remember. Black Friday is a tradition for people who are on the lookout for deals, who wait patiently for the fourth Friday of November and can finally purchase the deals they deserve. Black Friday is a place where retailers and consumers alike are in sync. As a consumer, it feels like I’m being listened to by my favorite retailers. By knocking down the prices of our favorite products, retailers are able to clear out their inventory yet are still able to chop down the price of the $80 shoes I was pining to get once their deal-saving-doors opened. In fact, I’ve always heard, “I have to wait until Black Friday to buy this” or “ I’m saving up for Christmas to get this,” because consumers expect the prices of items to drop once Black Friday hits our calendars. If Black Friday ceased to be a tradition, how would consumers know when the deals for the holiday season start Retailers rely on Black Friday to initiate the day that they should lower their prices for the holiday season. Otherwise, consumers would have to keep tabs on stores individually like we did throughout the rest of the year, which wouldn’t be festive.
I’ve seen a lot of love for Black Friday. However, with the love for this tradition comes hate as well. Some people are discouraged to go shopping the on Black Friday, due in part to the ton of videos online of people going all out. Despite the punches, kicks and shoves that are thrown within video-taped crowds of consumers fighting over merchandise, Black Friday is not always that hectic. Black Friday is usually just people rushing around the store and collecting whatever they want as quickly as possible. The instances of documented physical encounters are usually rare depending on the shopping centers one goes to. However, those physical instances are no different than the physical encounters at mosh pits or sometimes even sporting events.
Black Friday is not for everyone. Black Friday is for people who are fast on their feet, seeking great deals and hoping to buy their Christmas gifts early, even though sometimes the gifts are for ourselves. It’s the perfect tradition to start off the Christmas season and Cyber Monday.
