'To sustain the ride, they started to dilute it': How Black Friday became a retail letdown

"Black Friday has long been defined by massive crowds, rock-bottom prices and rabid consumers willing to bite, scratch and claw their way to the best deals of the season. But these days, retail's biggest holiday looks a bit different. Stores are opening their doors later, foot traffic is flat, online shopping is up and, in a world where Black Friday begins in September, consumers are wary, unsure if the deals they're getting are even that good."

""The integrity of the event is pretty much gone," said Mark Cohen, former CEO of Sears Canada, who spent a decade as the director of retail studies at Columbia Business School. "Back in the day, a Black Friday price was the best you could ever find on something ... never to be seen again. In today's day and age, promotional pricing just gets better and better from a consumer's point of view the closer you get to the holiday.""

"While Black Friday remains a critical day for many retailers and is still arguably the most popular shopping day of the year, it's no longer defined by the in-person experience. Millions of shoppers are expected to visit malls, big-box stores and specialty retailers on Friday, but millions more are expected to stay at home and shop online from their phones and computers."

Black Friday is changing from a chaotic in-store event to a dispersed, multi-channel shopping period. Stores are opening later or staging multiple promotional events across November and Cyber Monday, while some retailers begin discounts earlier and keep Thanksgiving closures with online deals. Foot traffic has flattened even as millions still shop in person; millions more prefer online purchasing via phones and computers. Consumers are increasingly skeptical of perceived savings as promotional pricing intensifies throughout the season, eroding the once-unique deep-discount identity of Black Friday. Major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Macy's and Kohl's are adapting strategies to spread sales and encourage online purchases.

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