Monday, December 02, 2013

Black Friday 2013: The Good and the Bad

Black Friday is gone and we are passing Cyber Monday too. The bad news is that this time, American consumers spent less amount of money compared to last year. According to this BBC report:
US consumers spent around $1.7bn less over the holiday weekend, with the average shopper spending $407.02 from Thursday to Sunday.
That's down from $423.55 in 2012.
Retailers blamed stagnant wages and economic uncertainty for keeping wallets shut, as they slashed prices to lure reluctant shoppers.
In total, the National Retail Federation estimates that US shoppers spent around $57.4bn this year, down 2.7% from $59.1bn last year.

The good news is that the concept of Black Friday is spreading to foreign markets and foreign consumers are taking advantage of the online shopping spree that happens during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

On the other hand, things look positive and bright when it comes to Cyber Monday 2013. The headline of this Chicago Tribune news perhaps says it all:


The future of online shopping looks to be bright and US companies will get a lot of benefit because they are the early players. E-commerce is going to expand rapidly in Asia in the next few years just the way smartphone use is increasing. We will not get shocked if after one decade, there will be more sales in Asia rather than USA during Cyber Monday and Black Friday. 

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