I expected Black Friday to be complicated this year. From chain stores opening on Thanksgiving Day to Ferguson boycotts, I thought sales would take a downward spiral. Black Friday results show I was wrong…somewhat.
Tech giant IBM calculated the mixed statistics. According to IBM, sales were up 13% overall from 2013 but the average receipt is down by about seven dollars. The big winners were chain stores’ online sales. They grew nearly 30% over last year, but the number of dollars spent per order decreased a bit. Apple turned out to be a winner…again. Their receipt order on Black Friday was 23% more than Android’s. They brought in more sight traffic as well. While mobile computers and smartphones continued to increase, desktops aren’t dying. They made up for nearly half of all Black Friday computer sales.
I’m not surprised Apple is ruling the mobile technology roosts. I say that not because of superior quality, but because of superior marketing. I must admit, I was quietly hoping Black Friday results would be lower than last year’s. But the fact that online sales triggered the increase gives me hope. Is it just me, or are crowds getting worse and worse every year? I just saw a video of how shoppers acted on Black Friday during the 1980s and how they act now. With the lone exception of the Cabbage Patch craze, I didn’t see ’80s shoppers camping out in tents in the freezing cold, trample each other to death in stampedes, or police being called to break up near riots. No computer, smartphone, smartwatch, toy, TV, video game, radio, or accessory is worth my health or life.? Back then, Black Friday was more sociable. Today, it’s so competitive to the point the shoppers are turning into animals.? Is that why online sales did so well yesterday? Is this a continuing trend?