Has Black Friday Evolved Into Cyber November?

by Alicia Thorpe, Retail Wire

Black Friday seems to have transformed from a one-day retail event into a season-long frenzy of deals and discounts spanning weeks — or even months. As early promotions and heightened e-commerce strategies blur the lines between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, some have begun to question whether the holiday shopping season has outgrown its traditional calendar boundaries.

We asked our BrainTrust members their thoughts on the matter.

What's Next for Black Friday?

Black Friday's shift to a broader shopping season reflects changing consumer habits, but its future depends on how retailers evolve their strategies. 

"To maximize the shortest holiday shopping season in five years, retailers have adopted a more aggressive playbook to re-capture consumer attention," Adam Dumey, global vice president of retail for World Wide Technology, explained. "The major levers have been earlier holiday shopping discounts — illustrated by Walmart's earlier-than-ever holiday deals — and deeper promotional strategies — as evidenced by Amazon Prime's Big Deal Days YoY discount increase of approximately 14%."

He continued, "They're also poised to leverage a Black Friday event that has become the cornerstone of U.S. consumers' holiday shopping behavior, as evidenced by NRF's most recent research confirming that 72% of shoppers plan to 'head out to stores or shop online' this year. Given the shorter runway and lower YoY inventory levels, retailers are likely to continue their 2024 pattern of enticing value-oriented consumers with heftier discounting strategies."