The day after Thanksgiving is one of the year‘s busiest shopping days

1. Early uses of “Black Friday” were negative, referring in the United States, for example, to a stock market crisis that occurred on Sept. 24, 1869.

2. References to the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday” date at least as far back as a 1951 Factory Management and Maintenance article on the topic of worker absences.

3. the term has come to describe the transition of stores from having negative returns (”in the red”) to making a profit (”in the black”).

4. Though it is not a federal holiday, Black Friday gained popularity for shopping since many employers give their workers the day off.

5. the Monday after Thanksgiving was termed “Cyber Monday” in 2005 after retailers noticed a spike in online sales that day.

6. Stampeding customers at the 5 a.m. opening of a Valley Stream, N.Y., Wal-Mart on Black Friday 2008 trampled a store employee to death. As part of a deal the company made with local prosecutors to avoid criminal charges, all 92 Wal-Marts in New York State are required to implement crowd-management plans this year.

7. In 2008, more than 172 million shoppers visited retail stores during Black Friday weekend, spending an average of $372.57 each.

8. Last year, the three most popular items purchased online on Black Friday were the Nintendo Wii console, the Ugg Australia “Classic Short” boot, and the Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc player.

9. In 2008, in-store sales of electronics fell for the first time in Black Friday history.

10. Ninety percent of malls say that this year, their special holiday hours start on Black Friday.

• Associated Content
• Consumer Reports
• History.com
• International Council of Shopping Centers
• National Retail Foundation
• New York Daily News
• Pricegrabber.com
• Forbes.com
• LinguistList.org, University of Eastern Michigan

What is social networking really for? Well, networking, of course. The digital version of word-of-mouth is what brands are after, however, as personal recommendations come in the form of Twitter status updates, Facebook wall posts and bookmarked web clippings. Social networking has become a conduit for sharing information we feel is important, hoping that others will feel the same.

Brands looked to this growing capacity of social networking for Black Friday in particular, as both social networking and social media marketing have reached the point of mutual acceptance. That means that brands are looking to social networks as relatively inexpensive ways in which they can leverage the act of the personal recommendation, utilizing individuals as authorities to promote their products.

As Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, getting everyone into the right spirit is a huge commercial task. Sales help towards that end goal of increasing end-of-year sales, but the combination of online word-of-mouth marketing and growing options for online shopping means that Black Friday is becoming a major point of interest for brands.

The expectations surrounding brand marketing for Black Friday 2009 were considerably higher than what we’ve seen in previous years. after last year’s holiday push for virtual goods on networks such as Facebook, many brands are recognizing the potential of social networks for spreading the word about various products and discounted prices.

So how did brands fare this year? Mobile payments increased, which is good for those brands that have a heavy focus on virtual goods and mobile shopping initiatives. Cyber Monday already looks to be more effective for retailers than Black Friday, indicating that online activity is a great conduit for marketing as well.

However, it is difficult to immediately recognize the affect social media marketing has on holiday shopping. This is largely due to the fact that social media marketing has more to do with instilling brand recognition and long term consumer engagement. That makes things like sales easier to measure, but immediate effect more difficult to calculate.

So far surveys have been a useful way to guage consumer attitudes surrounding holiday shopping, for both offline and online initiatives. a recent post on ABC’s news website requests anecdotes from readers sharing their own social networking experience towards holiday shopping, suggesting that the interest in acknowledging any social media influence on our consumer behavior.

Blame it in part on the economy–we’ve seen some major shifts in marketing efforts after the market’s downfall. many companies are looking for cheaper ways in which to accomplish the things they were already doing, including marketing and advertising. That necessity has carried over to social networks, as brands need new ways to disseminate information and consumers need more effective ways of accessing and receiving that information.

Whatever the long-term effects are from this year’s holiday shopping initiatives for social network advertising, we at least know that it will continue to manifest in next year’s efforts as well. The ongoing increase in activity around this will play out in improved ways for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2010, and we will likely see a bigger jump (especially in the mobile realm) between current activity and next year’s.

• 2009/03/24 — Facebook as a Traffic Booster
• 2009/11/30 — Cyber Monday 2009 Survey: Customers Prefer to Shop Online
• 2009/08/22 — Can Advertising keep Up With the new and different?
• 2009/08/05 — Social Media off Limits to US Marines? not so Much
• 2009/06/04 — Social Media and Society Decline
• 2009/03/31 — Social Media Is Cheap and Other Illusions
• 2009/03/27 — Social ER Overrun! – State of the Web 2009

Other Black Friday discounts offered by SleepyHeads.com include 40% off on Lug and Hello Kitty sleepwear line and Frankie & Johnny cosmetic bags at $5, ‘Free Robe’ offer with a purchase of $75 and above will run through November 30, 2009 and can be availed by using the promo code ‘FREEROBE’. only one coupon can be used per purchase. All other Black Friday deals can be viewed at: sleepyheads.com/blackfriday/.

SleepyHeads.com presents a wide range of sleepwear products, such as pajamas, dressing gowns and lingerie, all at competitive prices. Frankie & Johnny is an in-house brand that presents throwback designs to create nostalgic pajamas inspired by Nick & Nora pajamas. Frankie and Johnny Pajamas lines can be reached at: sleepyheads.com/Browse_by_Brand/Frankie_and_Johnny_Pajamas_and_Robes.

“We’re very excited to be able to offer 40% off on Frankie & Johnny pajamas and SleepyHeads sleepwear,” says Ms. Jennifer Briscoe, representative of SleepyHeads.com, “as not only are they great pajamas, but are perfect Christmas gifts! Frankie & Johnny pajamas come in flannel and cotton and in many styles and prints.”

Sleepyheads pajamas are a new brand exclusive to SleepyHeads.com, and are designed with family in mind. Sleepyheads have a line of matching family pajamas, holiday pjs, Christmas pajamas with seasonal holiday designs. Browse through the SleepyHeads loungewear collection at: sleepyheads.com/Browse_by_Brand/Sleepyheads_Pajamas_and_Loungewear.

“Sleepyheads pajamas is our own pajama line, devoted to making great family pajamas that are not too expensive in today’s economic climate. Sleepyheads pajamas make great Christmas gifts, and with the 40% discount on Black Friday, there’s never been a better time to get your hands on some great value pjs.” stated Ms. Briscoe, “and if your feeling extra Christmassy, then matching pajamas for the whole family might be right up your alley. with matching family pajamas, you can participate in the Family Matching Pajamas Photo Contest going on at SleepyHeads.com!”

More Christmas items are scheduled to be added to the gift lines at SleepyHeads.com in the run up to Christmas. To view current inventory of holiday and Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers, visit: sleepyheads.com/Holiday_Gifts.

“If you are searching for that perfect gift for a loved one, then search no more, as SleepyHeads has exactly what you are looking for! Frankie & Johnny and Sleepyheads pajamas make great Christmas gifts, and you can get something for everyone at the same time with a line of matching family pajamas.” said Ms. Briscoe, “Not only that, but we also have a store wide 30% discount on Black Friday! so, make it a very merry Christmas this year, with SleepyHeads!”

The special Black Friday 40% off discount on Frankie and Johnny and SleepyHeads pajamas can be availed only on Black Friday, November 27, 2009.

About SleepyHeads.com
SleepyHeads.com is a leading retailer of pajamas, sleepwear & lingerie featuring quality loungewear brands & designer labels. the SleepyHeads.com online store provides pajamas, lingerie, women’s pajamas, slippers, robes, men’s pajamas, matching family pajamas, etc.

SleepyHeads.com carried many popular brands that are often featured on TV: the Today Show, the Morning Show, & Extra. SleepyHeads.com products have also been featured in magazines such as Woman’s World & Oprah.

For Information, contact:
Jennifer Briscoe
1840 Airport Exchange Blvd. #130
Erlanger, KY
Phone: 1-866-638-2172
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: SleepyHeads.com/
Blog: blog.sleepyheads.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/sleepyheads01

The National Retail Federation reported Sunday that Americans spent an estimated $41.2 billion over the holiday weekend, an amount on par with last year. Store traffic surpassed expectations despite the weak economy. “It was a pretty successful” weekend, said Scott Krugman, NRF vice president. Shoppers, as expected, went for good deals on lower-priced items.

The retail federation says 195 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the weekend, up from 172 million last year, based on a survey of almost 5,000 consumers by BIGresearch. On average, consumers spent $343.31 per person vs. $372.57 a year ago, the survey said.

Although the weekend proved that shoppers were willing to spend on bargains, it might not reveal much about the rest of the holiday shopping season. Last year, the weekend after Thanksgiving — the traditional start of the holiday shopping season — was strong and then momentum took a dive. this year, analysts expect retailers to offer continued and varied deals. “Consumers are focused on the most discounted items, and we expect that to continue,” says Sapna Shah, of consulting firm Retail Eye Partners. Retailers will “add more promotions and mix it up,” she says.

Department stores have hit a winning combination of low prices and good quality, NRF CEO Tracy Mullin says. “Last year, people were turned around by the economy and (crowds) died down quickly,” says Tom Aiello, Sears spokesman. “This year, people are spending more time in the stores and fanning out to other departments.”

Leandra Norris, 24, a receptionist from Phoenix, cashed in. She spent $350 on nine bags of goods, mostly filled with toys and clothing for her children, ages 2 and 4. But she also made unplanned purchases for herself because clothes were “dirt cheap.”

Retailers will get another look at the holiday season today with Cyber Monday, the official start of the online holiday season. almost 97 million people are expected to shop online today vs. 85 million last year, according to a survey for Shop.org by BIGresearch. almost $10.6 billion was spent online in November through Friday, a 3% increase vs. the same time last year, says researcher ComScore.

Despite a solid weekend, the NRF still predicts that holiday sales will be down 1% from last year.

Black Friday saw a frenzied crowd of deal hungry shoppers thronging the World’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to get best deals.

In a marked departure from tradition, the Bentonville, Arkansas based retailer offered extended hours at most of its non-24 hour stores this year to cater to the heavy rush and especially house post-Thanksgiving shoppers.

Once bitten twice shy
On Black Friday last year, Wal-Mart had witnessed a tragedy when a worker was trampled by a couple of thousand strong shoppers rushed through the doors at opening time. the incident took place at one of the stores in Nassau district.

The company, in collaboration with the Nassau district attorney’s office, put up a safety plan for better crowd management this time around.

Nassau police, along with contracted security agents and seasonal store workers flocked the main doors of the Wal-Mart store and kept the shoppers informed about the availability of items that were most likely to be picked up.

The road outside the entry and exit points was barricaded. Shoppers waiting outside were let in only after people inside the store left.

“At this time we are not aware of any injuries or property damage related to Wal-Mart’s execution of its crowd management plan for Black Friday,” said Eric F. Phillips, the communications director for the district attorney of Nassau County, new York.

Complaints galore
At many of the Wal-Mart stores, shoppers struggled to find parking spots. not being able to find shopping carts was also a common complaint.

The biggest pain for shoppers was the huge serpentine lines at the checkout counters. Patience was the biggest virtue for these shoppers.

One of the stores in Upland, California had to down shutters as the irate customers got a bit too raucous. “We’ve heard of a few scuffles among customers, but overall it has been a very safe event,” claimed a Wal-Mart spokesman.

The biggest attraction at Wal-Mart was the $298 Hewlett-Packard laptop computers that went on sale as early as 5 a.m.

While the holiday season which kicks off with Black Friday may have a reason to cheer for the retailer, Wal-Mart, like most other players in the industry, has been reeling under a severe crisis in the wake of economic recession.

The company has, in the most recent quarter, reported a slump in sales at its stores open at least a year. the retailer had also warned of slower sales during the vitally significant holiday shopping season.

NEW YORK — Holiday shopping held steady through the weekend after retailers saw a huge crowd of bargain shoppers buying discounted flat-panel TVs and fleece jackets on Black Friday, the traditional post-Thanksgiving Day shopping spree.

Economic worries about jobs were still apparent as shoppers stuck to their lists and focused on practical and small-ticket items for themselves and for their loved ones, resulting in a mildly encouraging start to the season.

Online sales on Thursday and Friday, however, rose 11 percent to $913 million, according to data released Sunday by comScore, an Internet research firm.

According to preliminary figures released Saturday by ShopperTrak, a research firm that tracks more than 50,000 outlets, sales rose 0.5 percent to $10.66 billion Friday, compared with a year ago. That was on top of a 3 percent increase last year.

The National Retail Federation trade group said Sunday it is sticking to its forecast for holiday sales to decline 1 percent from last year.

The question now is whether merchants will be able to keep customers coming back for the rest of the season.

A year after suffering the biggest sales decline in four decades, the nation’s merchants pulled out all the stops in stores and online to keep the momentum going for the holiday weekend, further blurring the lines between their Web-based and land-based businesses.

Major merchants including J.C. Penney Co. and Sears Holdings Corp., which operates Kmart and Sears, broke new ground this year by making many of their early morning Black Friday specials available on their Web sites at the same time.

Marketing gurus have started calling the season a “Twitter Christmas” as merchants have been tweeting deals and offering previews of discounts on Facebook pages.

Sears spokesman Tom Aiello noted Sunday that since Wednesday, the chain has sent out a few dozen tweets to inform customers of bargains for the weekend and for the Monday after Thanksgiving, which is heavily promoted as Cyber Monday but could lose some of it steam this year.

“Forget Black Friday for bricks and Cyber Monday for clicks — this year it’s all about making it easy for customers to satisfy their shopping fix … wherever and whenever,” said John Long, a retail strategist at Kurt Salmon Associates.

Long, however, noted that “we’re still seeing cautious spending. The pie isn’t increasing whether you decide to buy in the stores or online.”

Laura Gurski, a partner in the retail practice at A.T. Kearney, a global management consultant, described the start as “encouraging” and noted that shoppers have more “confidence in what they’re buying” because retailers are communicating better through social media in addition to traditional marketing.

She believes the weekend’s results offered signals that consumers, many of whom had cut spending all year to bare-bones necessities, had saved up for the holidays and were opening their wallets — even if just a little.

Shoppers’ cautious mood was evident.

Allentown, Pa. resident Jamie Sandrock, 27, who was visiting New York City on Saturday and was outside toy store FAO Schwarz, said she got up at 7 a.m. Friday and took advantage of online deals on Amazon.com, American Eagle Outfitters and Sephora.

That’s a big change from the Black Fridays of years past, when Sandrock would get up at 3:30 a.m. to head to Target or best buy.

“Last year, I was part of the stampede,” she said. “This year, I didn’t have to shower. I didn’t have to get dressed. all I had to do was click.”

But Sandrock, who has been trying to find a job in nursing since she graduated from college in may, said she’s slashing her holiday spending to $350 from last year’s $500.

After losing his job in the insurance industry earlier this year, Charles Tompkins, 48, who was at the Freehold, N.J., Raceway Mall on Saturday, said he’ll be spending “a lot less” this year than he did in 2008.

“My daughter is in college, so my wife will get her clothes, shoes, stuff like that. in years past, my gift to her probably would have been to take her to a Broadway show, but this year she knows her old dad can’t swing that,” Tompkins said.

Nevertheless, overall reports Sunday from malls and stores were somewhat comforting and different from last year when stores had a decent Black Friday before sales tanked the rest of the weekend and season.

The Mall of America in Minneapolis, saw 325,000 visitors Friday and Saturday, the most in 17 years. Spokeswoman Bridget Jewell said traffic remained steady throughout the weekend and said she’s fairly confident that weekend sales will be up from last year.

Karen MacDonald, a spokeswoman at Taubman Centers, which operates 24 malls nationwide, said sales Friday were up anywhere from mid-single digits to double-digit increases compared with a year ago. On Saturday, sales were anywhere from unchanged to up slightly.

Shoppers bought about half the items sold for themselves, she said, but the buying was focused on basics like denim, fleece jackets and boots, she said. Electronics remained hot throughout the weekend.

A more complete sales picture won’t be known until Thursday, when the nation’s retailers report November sales.

AP Retail Writer Bruce Shipkowski contributed to the report in Freehold, N.J.

Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) — Retailers reported “strong”shopper traffic on Black Friday as discounts on televisions,toys and computers drew budget-conscious crowds across the U.S.,the National Retail Federation said.

High-definition TVs, laptops, Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamstersand winter coats were among the most popular items, according tothe federation, a Washington-based trade group. Sales advanced0.5 percent to $10.7 billion, ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based research firm, said yesterday in a statement.

Wal-Mart Stores inc., the world’s largest retailer, drewcrowds with $298 Hewlett-Packard laptop computers and otherspecials that went on sale at 5 a.m. best buy inc., the biggestelectronics chain, used $547.99 42-inch Samsung flat-panel TVsto lure shoppers grappling with the highest unemployment in 26years. the retailer had bigger early-morning crowds than lastyear, Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn said.

“The surprise news is that they are actually buying forthemselves as well, due to pent-up demand and frugal fatigue,”Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group inc. saidin a Bloomberg Television interview Nov. 27. “They are saying‘Let’s loosen up the purse strings a little bit,’ but it isstill cautious spending.” NPD, based in Port Washington, NewYork, is a market research firm.

Holiday Shopping Prediction

The day after U.S. Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday,the traditional beginning of holiday buying. Explanations of thephrase’s origins differ, one holding that it’s the weekend whenretailers go to being in the black, profitable for the year.Stores open early on Black Friday and offer early-bird discountsto attract business.

A 4.9 percent sales decrease in the northeast counteredgains in other regions, according to ShopperTrak. Consumertraffic was heavy throughout the country, the research firm,which plans to release store-visit figures in the next few days.

“We’ve seen a gradual retail sales increase over the lasttwo weeks and with Black Friday’s performance, it looks likeNovember will be a positive month for retailers,” Bill Martin,a ShopperTrak co-founder, said in the statement. “The 1.6percent increase we originally predicted for the holiday seasonremains intact.”

Retailers’ chief marketing officers predicted Black Fridaysales would climb an average 1.8 percent from a year ago attheir own stores, according to a survey conducted by BDO SeidmanLLP in October. Ninety-six of 100 executives said they wouldincrease promotions this year, offering the biggest discounts onconsumer electronics.

Discounts on TVs

“Retailers in all sectors have reported strong crowds,”according to an NRF statement Nov. 27.

Walmart fell 33 cents to $54.63 on Nov. 27 in new YorkStock Exchange composite trading. Richfield, Minnesota-basedBest buy lost 43 cents to $42.83.

There seemed to be more discounts on TVs this year, andshoppers were snapping them up, said Charles O’Shea, a new York-based retail analyst with Moody’s Investors Service. In the fourhours he spent checking retailers in northern new Jersey, he sawseveral shoppers standing at bus stops holding flat-panel sets.

“It looks like everybody has caught the promotional bug,”O’Shea said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

The lines in front of best buy stores were longer and thecompany’s Web site attracted more visitors than in 2008, BestBuy’s Dunn said.

“Those are both directionally important indicators forus,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Samir Patel arrived at noon on Thanksgiving Day with hisbrother and cousin to claim the No. 1 spot in line at best Buyin Jersey City, new Jersey. the 26-year-old, who has beenunemployed since he graduated with a master’s degree in may, waswaiting to buy a Sony Vaio laptop for $399.99 when the storeopened at 5:30 a.m. the next day.

“It’s the best deal for a laptop this year,” he said.”There’s a minimum of 10 in the store.”

Liberty Media Corp.’s QVC shopping channel said it had morethan $32 million in sales Nov. 27, its best-ever Black Friday,and a 60 percent increase from last year. the previous recordwas $22.3 million in November 2006, said Doug Rose, vicepresident of programming and marketing at QVC.

Holiday sales make up a third or more of retailers’ annualprofit. the International Council of Shopping Centers, a tradegroup, predicted sales at stores open at least a year willadvance 1 percent in November and December after a year-earlier5.8 percent decline, the worst in 40 years.

‘More Traffic’

“There’s a little more traffic than last year across theboard, maybe 10 percent,” Bill Taubman, chief operating officerof Taubman Centers inc., a U.S. real estate investment trustwith 24 malls, said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, kept stores openall night so shoppers could grab items when they went on sale at5 a.m. the world’s largest retailer cut some toy prices to $5.

Toys “R” Us, based in Wayne, new Jersey, had an averageof 1,000 people outside its stores before they opened atmidnight, five hours earlier than last year, said Chairman andCEO Jerry Storch. the chains sold a “significant number” ofApple inc. iPods and tens of thousands of Zhu Zhu Pets robothamsters, he said.

“The last thing parents will cut back on is toys for theirkids,” Storch said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

J.C. Penney, Macy’s

Black Friday shopping at J.C. Penney co. stores was strongthroughout the U.S., the Plano, Texas-based retailer said in ane-mailed statement yesterday.

J.C. Penney, which plans to report November sales on Dec.3, fell $1.07 to $29.57 on Nov. 27 on the new York StockExchange.

At the Macy’s inc. store in new York’s Herald Square,shopper traffic appeared greater than a year ago, and continuedto flow in after the initial rush, Macy’s Chairman and CEO TerryLundgren said. Housewares and jewelry were selling “briskly,”he said.

“Last year we were just getting rid of the inventory webought six months before,” Lundgren said. “This year we’ve hada year to think through what is the sales trend.”

Macy’s, based in Cincinnati, dropped 59 cents to $16.97 onNov. 27 on the new York Stock Exchange.

Promotions are shaping up to be less haphazard than lastyear when conditions were “downright dysfunctional” after thefinancial crisis forced retailers to clear out goods, RichardHastings, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based consumer strategistfor Global Hunter Securities LLC, said Nov. 27 in an e-mail.

After this weekend, sales may slip into a lull until mid-December when retailers push out more discounts, Hastings said.

“The season has a long way to go,” Hastings said.

To contact the reporters on this story:Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net;Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 1348 or cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 29, 2009 00:00 EST

TRACY, CA — Black Friday customers who arrived at the Wal-Mart store here, expecting to purchase an e-Machines laptop for the $198 Black Friday price, were surprised to find the entire shipment of 37 units had been assigned to other customers the day before.

A store manager admitted that the only way for a customer to know that tickets allowing later purchase of the machines were being distributed early would have been to call the store and ask.

Such tickets are used by other stores–such as Best Buy–but were not mentioned in Wal-Mart’s Black Friday advertising, which only said the laptops would be on sale from 5 a.m. until 10 a.m.

“That really sucks,” said one unhappy customer when he learned he could not purchase a laptop, despite at the store at 5 a.m. when the sale was supposed to start “How was I supposed to know to call?”

The Wal-Mart manager, named mark, said other tech products had been presold in the same way as well, but did not elaborate.

Still other products, supposedly available for the entire day, did not go on sale until 5 a.m., despite the store having been open since midnight.

Mark, the store manager, said the company changed its Black Friday strategy this year, following the death of a security guard, crushed by customers when a Long Island opened on Black Friday 2008. this year, the Los Angeles Times reported two minor incidents on at Wal-Mart stores on Friday.

“There are some things we need to refine,” the Tracy manager said when asked why someone who arrived at the advertised time–5 a.m.–was unable to purchase the advertised laptop. it appeared that customers who lined up inside the store as early as 3 a.m. had not been told the item would be unavailable.

It is unclear whether the early ticket distribution was done at Wal-Mart stores nationwide or only in limited areas. it appeared other computers, including a $298 HP model, were also presold.

Stocks of a $589 HP All-in-One desktop, $78 1TB external drives, and other computer items were not presold and becamse available at 5 a.m., as promised in the store’s advertising.

Unlike past years, the Tracy, California store had been open 24 hours on Thanksgiving, and early-arriving customers were allowed inside the store, where they clustered around the items they wished to purchase.

Most of the sale items were stacked on pallets and shrink-wrapped, with signs warning that the merchandise was not to be sold before 5 a.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 27.

It is not clear how widespread the early ticket distribution was, or what penalties Wal-Mart might face as a result of the misleading advertising.

David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and may be contacted through his Web site.

As much as I love shiny new gadgets at deep discounts, I didn’t go out on Black Friday.

For one thing, I hate people. as a former new York City resident now living on marginally less people-infested Long Island, anything involving crowds and people in close proximity, particularly competing for something, makes me go all stabby. (Plus, I almost got into a catfight in Wal-Mart a few weeks ago over the last case of Diet Cherry Pepsi. I was there first and that woman lost her damn mind.) Considering the large volume of crowds expected by stores and riot gear calmly stacked outside in the hours leading up to the sales, I reasoned that shopping on Black Friday was not worth the hassle, no matter how many accessories my iPhone needs to really work as it should.

As is generally always the case, I was so right. everyone I know who went out for the doorbusters came back worse than empty handed- they came back bogged down with shit they didn’t want or need, because no one wants to get up at 3am and buy nothing. the big “deals” we all salivated over for the past few weeks were like raffles, with few people scooping up a free Lego Rock Band at old Navy or a $200 laptop.

Enter Cyber Monday, the online version of Black Friday. While your boss will notice you absent the office for a few hours and the piles of stuff stacked in it after if you nip out to the shops, lots of workers can sneak in some e-tail therapy at their desks under the boss’ radar.

One massive advantage to Cyber Monday shopping is the reduced ability of retailers to jerk shoppers around. While many people lined up at best Buy for scarce, cheap netbooks and notebooks, your total investment of time for Cyber Monday shopping is a few clicks around a site to find where they’ve hidden the deals. if the quantities are super limited like in the stores, you’ll know without having to find a spot, push through crowds and knock down an old lady. Convenient!

While the big box stores warrant a post of their own, a great place to start your Cyber Monday strategizing is Retail Me not, a deal aggregator with codes and deals submitted by the internet at large.their list is exhaustive, but the site has quick, easy and intuitive search functions making the process pretty simple.

Gizmodo’s got a no-nonsense top ten list of Cyber Monday deals, cutting out the faff and detailing some good one-shot things. Included are an XBox 360 Premium Bundle at Wal-Mart for $399, a 20% PayPal cash-back incentive with some retailers, and a $25 Bluetooth headset.

As listings for genuine Cyber Monday sales and deals are scarce or ambiguous, it seems the best strategy for the day is to surf early and surf often. Sites begin sales days at different time based on location and policy, so some update as early as midnight. and bear in mind that stores are just as desperate as shoppers this year to stimulate their finances, so deals are likely to go hot and heavy for the entire Christmas season. do a quick Google shopping scan before searching to ensure the price you’re about to pay is indeed the lowest. and if you know of any fantastic deals we may be missing, ping me on Twitter at @klacapria and I’ll update with the good ones.

1. Stuck with relatives on Black Friday? Cyber Monday’s got deals, too
2. Walmart Cyber Monday Deals
3. Search Data Suggests Black Friday Hesitation
4. Black Friday Shopping Expected to Show Increase
5. Top 10 Tips For Black Friday Shopping In 2009

November 27 was Black Friday in the US. This is not to be confused with Black Monday, Black Tuesday, Black Wednesday or Black Thursday. the latter are black because of various economic disasters: the US stock market crashes of October 19 1987 (Monday) and October 29 1929 (Tuesday); Black Wednesday was when John Major’s government withdrew the pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992; and Black Thursday was when the US stock market began its slide in 1929, which culminated in the Tuesday crash. and though there is a Black Friday that also relates to economics, when the US gold market collapsed in 1869, that usage is mainly confined to the history books.

November 27’s Black Friday was black because, theoretically, it is the day the balance sheets of American stores go into the black, thanks to the crazed shopping of consumers using the Thanksgiving break to do their holiday gift buying. To get consumers through the doors, the stores use the Thanksgiving holiday for some equally crazed one- or two-day discounting. In other words, these days, when you hear the words “Black Friday”, you don’t need to worry about your stock portfolio, just your credit card balance.

With the retail Black Friday, though, I find the discrepancy in meaning odd. You’d think, upon hearing the phrase, that Black Friday should refer to a bad day (like a market crash), not a fun, shop-till-you-drop, day. Of course, the nomenclature is relative. “Black” could refer to the sudden crash of your personal liquidity levels; according to a new study of 2,011 consumers by American Express, this holiday season “10 per cent of consumers actually intend to open their wallets and spend more on holiday gifts relative to last year … in the next 30 days, more than one in five US consumers (22 per cent) expect to spend more when compared to the last 30-day period.”

Or there’s another possibility: “black” could refer to the mood of department store sales staff, going by a new book, Retail Hell, by Freeman Hall, a former high-end department store salesman. According to Hall, working in a store is so awful – because of crazy customers, competitive, client-stealing sales assistants, and image-focused owners – that presumably any day that ups the ante of potential sales and potential disasters in these stores is a bad day.

But it’s not just sales assistants or shoppers who are calling it Black Friday. It’s everyone. which makes me think that either we are having a collective failure of imagination and that we haven’t focused on the fact we are confusing meanings – or it could be a piece of fall-out from the fashion world. Because in fashion, after all, black is the business. So it makes sense to name the day you do the most business after the shade that most often rakes in the money.

Yet, what does it really say about attitudes to shopping itself? It certainly doesn’t paint it in the most positive light, no matter what you happen to think of black as a colour. Personally, for example, I embrace the shade – black makes up a large part of my wardrobe along with its related tones, grey and white. but while I celebrate it on my body for a number of reasons logical or not (it provides a backdrop for my thoughts, it makes it easy to dress in the morning, it shows off my hair), I don’t extend this to its descriptive power when related to anything other than the Pantone wheel.

Black is a term of literary and emotional darkness, and to use it as a modifier is to imbue the term it is modifying with less-than-salubrious connotations (and that’s not even taking into account the complicated politics of race).

The implication, really, of calling a big shopping day a black day is “shopping = bad”. no wonder it’s an American term; it captures the duality of the US attitude to consumption pretty much perfectly. the country is full of mea culpas about irresponsible purchasing (of houses, cars, dresses); on the other hand, spending is positioned as a patriotic activity.

This is not nearly as much of an issue in many European countries, which do not have Black Fridays and generally do not start their sales until after Christmas or at new year. In France, all sales begin on the same, government-mandated day – this year January 6 – and last for the same period. perhaps, as a result, there is less holiday retail frenzy and less holiday retail guilt. and perhaps this is why, in a town hall meeting called by the Council of Fashion Designers of America last summer aimed at helping fashion out of the recession, Anna Wintour, the British editor of American Vogue, suggested the idea of mandated sales periods.

It sounded pretty good, until Diane von Furstenberg, CFDA president, pointed out that the idea was “illegal” – at least according to Washington’s antitrust rules. It seems we can live with the contra-logic of Black Friday, but not with blackening fashion’s good name.

vanessa.friedman@ft.com
More columns at ft.com/friedman