Black Friday Saves America?
Black Friday sales reports seem to indicate that the consumer is spending. To read or listen to the main stream media (MSM), you'd think America has been saved from the depths of despair. My goodness, what would have happened had Black Friday been a bust?
Then again, early data says that in-store sales weren't that great, but online sales more than made up for that:
Christmas sales typically account for the major portion of retailers' profits for the whole year, so you can understand why retailers focus so intently on this. Notice I said you can understand why retailers focus intently on this. The thing is, I'm not a retailer. If you're not a retailer either, then this isn't the most important economic news you'll hear all year - really.
Without drowning in statistics like how consumer spending determines 70% of our GDP, let's think about this. It's gotten to the point where you'll hear how our economy is desperate for consumers to run out and spend. Does this strike you as healthy?
Think about many people you know who run up credit card debt. Lots of those people are out there building up even more debt during Christmas. Is that the sign of a healthy economy?
How about those who don't have credit card debt now, but will incur debt to buy stuff during the holiday shopping season? Is that a sign that the economy is healthy?
Besides the problem of people getting into or running up their credit card debt, is a society where people cut short their Thanksgiving Day to run to malls or shop online a healthy society? Isn't Thanksgiving a time to think about things for which you're grateful, a time to spend with family and friends? Is cutting down on gratitude and the few precious moments you have to get together with your family and friends a sign of a healthy culture and society?
America won't be saved from our economic mess by people running around spending what little money they have, and/or getting into debt in the process. I hope you see that. I hope you understand that the obsession with Black Friday is at best a big distraction that wastes your time, and at worst a sign of cultural and social decline.
Then again, early data says that in-store sales weren't that great, but online sales more than made up for that:
Retailers reported a big jump in consumer spending over the Thanksgiving weekend as shoppers flocked to stores, snapped up online discounts and, according to some merchants, paid repeat visits to the mall.
But the overall increase wasn't as robust as last year's. And some indicators showed a decline in spending at stores on Black Friday itself, leading to questions about whether retailers' new tactics are simply shifting spending to different days and sales outlets.
Merchants with strong Web presences were positioned to be the big winners: for the first time, more than half of consumers said they shopped on the Internet over the weekend. Online spending on Friday alone topped $1 billion for the first time,
Christmas sales typically account for the major portion of retailers' profits for the whole year, so you can understand why retailers focus so intently on this. Notice I said you can understand why retailers focus intently on this. The thing is, I'm not a retailer. If you're not a retailer either, then this isn't the most important economic news you'll hear all year - really.
Without drowning in statistics like how consumer spending determines 70% of our GDP, let's think about this. It's gotten to the point where you'll hear how our economy is desperate for consumers to run out and spend. Does this strike you as healthy?
Think about many people you know who run up credit card debt. Lots of those people are out there building up even more debt during Christmas. Is that the sign of a healthy economy?
How about those who don't have credit card debt now, but will incur debt to buy stuff during the holiday shopping season? Is that a sign that the economy is healthy?
Besides the problem of people getting into or running up their credit card debt, is a society where people cut short their Thanksgiving Day to run to malls or shop online a healthy society? Isn't Thanksgiving a time to think about things for which you're grateful, a time to spend with family and friends? Is cutting down on gratitude and the few precious moments you have to get together with your family and friends a sign of a healthy culture and society?
America won't be saved from our economic mess by people running around spending what little money they have, and/or getting into debt in the process. I hope you see that. I hope you understand that the obsession with Black Friday is at best a big distraction that wastes your time, and at worst a sign of cultural and social decline.
Comments