Black Friday shopping is better online

I have never been shopping on Black Friday. I always say I want to, but the idea of having to take time out of work, wake up ridiculously early, sit in traffic, fight for the items I’m looking for, then risk them not being there, usually convinces me it’s better to just stay home. Of course, staying home doesn’t mean I don’t shop, it just means I’m a little smarter about how I shop.

For the most part, online shopping beats brick and mortar stores hands-down. It’s convenient, you can read about the product, check out online reviews, and you can often save money. Plus, you can easily check out several stores in just a few minutes to get the best price, and often get free shipping and no sales tax. There’s just one problem: Retailers don’t properly utilize online shopping.

As usual, I looked through some sales circulars on Thanksgiving and found some great prices. The problem is that many of the sales lasted just a matter of hours and start at 4am. Not only are these conditions inconvenient, they are downright annoying. Since the goal of a retailer is to sell as much merchandise as possible, shouldn’t they try to make the experience as pleasant as possible? This is especially true during a tough economy.

It looks like retailers had a successful Black Friday this year. Spending increased from $10.3 billion to $10.6 billion this year. Even more impressive is that the amount spent by online shoppers rose from $126.04 to $170.19 per shopper. That’s a substantial increase that’s far more impressive than the small year-over-year increases in general. It could also be argued that retailers could improve their bottom line by emphasizing online sales.

The best way to start would be to equalize online and brick and mortar sales. For example, sales circulars shouldn’t just have sales for physical locations. Items and prices should also be available online, and the convenience, selection, and safety of online transactions should be emphasized. If retailers would make this change, Black Friday sales could rise substantially.