Alabama NewsCenter: Auburn University Marketing Professor Comments on Black Friday, Cyber Monday Expectations

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By Auburn University

As the holiday shopping frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is upon us, what can brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers expect this season? Dora Bock, associate professor of marketing in Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business, comments on Nov. 27 Black Friday and Nov. 30 Cyber Monday sales predictions and trends.

I think this year is going to be really different. In the past, you’ve seen retailers open on Thanksgiving Day or even later in the day on Thanksgiving, but this year, many big-box retailers like Walmart, Target and Best Buy have announced they will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. So you won’t see that after your Thanksgiving meal … the big rush to the store. Instead you’re going to see many more online sales. Certainly, consumers are going to be shopping from companies that share their same values. They’re going to be shopping at companies where they feel safe shopping there and companies that they trust.

In terms of spending, projections are a little mixed and certainly projections are just projections, but one survey has indicated that consumers are going to spend about $100 less per shopper. Overall holiday season spending may be lower, but there will likely be an increase in online spending. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, many consumers have indicated that they’re not necessarily looking forward to the holiday season as much because either they’re grieving the loss of a loved one or they’re social distancing, so they’re not getting together with others, not going to holiday parties. There’s a lot of uncertainty in a lot of people who have lost jobs and are still recovering financially from some of the hurdles they’ve had to face this year. Overall, it’s going to be very different just because there’s going to be a clear push for online, but also there’s a lot of different emotions that consumers are currently experiencing now very different to what they have experienced in the past.

The rest of the article is located at AlabamaNewsCenter.com.

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