As we have blogged before, Black Friday “deals” are not always what they seem. They are often not the best bargains of the year, but typically a tool to lure consumers to the store. Today (Black Friday 2012) is no different.
Dana Mattioli has a very insightful report in the Wall Street Journal — that does not shine a very favorable light on the Black Friday tactics of some retailers: “Every Black Friday, retailers lure shoppers in the cold, predawn hours to wait in long lines with the promise of one-day-only deals that can’t be beat. And every year, shoppers ask themselves, ‘Is this really worth it?’ The answer, it turns out, often is, ‘No.’ An analysis by pricing research firm Decide Inc. and the Wall Street Journal of this year’s most-touted Black Friday deals found that many of the bargains advertised as ‘doorbusters’ were available at lower prices at other times of the year — sometimes even at the same retailer. Decide has gathered years’ of online price data and uses it to tell subscribers when they should pull the trigger on purchases. It looked at more than 500 doorbusters advertised in Black Friday circulars by big-box and department stores such as Target, Best Buy, and Sears Holdings and found that nearly one-third of the products had been sold at lower prices this year, said Decide Chief Executive Mike Fridgen.”
Click the image for a WSJ video.
