E-retail Extravaganza: Gearing Up For Cyber Shopping

PASSIONS | by ALEXANDRA SMITH

I’VE NEVER BEEN A FAN OF MALLS. The crowds, the Muzak, the scent of fries and Orange Julius ― no thanks. So it was with a mixture of claustrophobia and dread that I braved the biggest shopping day of the year at the biggest mall in America last November, on an assignment to survey the deep-recession shopping landscape.

© iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

I survived. But after having to park a half-mile from the entrance and being jostled black and blue in Urban Outfitters, I swore I’d never set foot in a mall on Black Friday again. So scarred was I that the even the prospect of navigating the cyber-sales that Monday was too much to take.

This year is different. No trip to the Mall of America on Friday for me, thanks, but I do plan to scour the online deals; in fact, I’m getting a few days’ head start. And I’m not the only one. To research some of the upcoming online sales check out Black Friday 2009. If last year’s trend repeats itself, consumers will actually make most of their online purchases on Friday rather than Cyber Monday: a 2008 Yahoo study found that online retailers saw greater sales on Black Friday compared to the following Monday.

Perhaps it’s no surprise. Who wouldn’t prefer to nurse a pumpkin pie hangover on the couch rather than in the mall?

It will be interesting to how the shop-happy weekend ahead unfolds, with consumers feeling (slightly) more confident in their spending and retailers feeling (slightly) less pressure to slash-and-sell this year. One thing you can count on: I’m spending Black Friday cuddled up on the sofa with my laptop and a plate of leftovers.