Black Friday 2011 – The Shoppers' Journey

KMart Black Friday Shopping - Photo Credit: Rebecca Parsons

An estimated 226 million shoppers rushed and in some cases pushed and shoved their way into American retailers on this last Black Friday. Fifty Social Fabric® members joined them to tell their own Black Friday shopping stories.

Around half of our shoppers braved the crowds late Thanksgiving evening. Many of them showed up for sale-priced electronics (such as a $188 32″ television,) but chose to explore the entire store after snagging their favorite items.

Lisa Harris prepared for her trip with lists and coupons before heading out to her local CVS and Walmart. She encountered some pretty crazy crowds but felt the armed police in-store helped to keep things under control. Even though she eventually explored her whole Walmart, Mariah Moon found the crowds in her store distracting. “The chaos had me forgetting anything I might have wanted to look for so I headed in the direction of the toys.”

Duane Reade Holiday Shopping - Photo Credit: Romina Tibytt

Those shoppers who chose to head out later on Friday morning still found plenty of good deals and much less crowded aisles. Chelsea Day hit up the toy and electronics department and found every register open for checkout at her Walmart.

Heather Lammers went so far as to visit Target on Thursday night for the best deals and then come back later Friday morning to shop for other items in a less stressful environment. “It was not crazy at all, and we were able to pick up the rest of the items on our wish list including the fleece pjs sets that weren’t available for purchase online. I was impressed that the cashiers were still in a great mood. Our cashier was getting ready to get off her shift and head home to sleep. She hoped that Target does not do the midnight opening next year as it made it difficult for her to spend time with her family on Thanksgiving.”

Rebecca Parsons checked out holiday decorating deals at her local Kmart. In addition to more traditional fare like ornaments and sashes, she and her husband also brought home a new fire pit for the backyard.

Prior to the big event, we surveyed the entire Social Fabric community to gauge their interest in even participating in all the Black Friday hullabaloo.

Only 13% of the 104 survey respondents said they would always shop Black Friday sales. Forty-three percent of respondents could take it or leave it and 12% were just waiting for the good sales to start online.

To view all of the Social Fabric Black Friday shopping stories, visit MyBFDeals.com

*Disclosure: Kmart/Sears and Duane Reade are current clients of Collective Bias.

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