“First America, then the world” looks to be the rallying cry for Black Friday 2013, which after taking Canada and Australia by storm last year has spread into the U.K., despite the lack of any Thanksgiving holiday there.
And in Canada, the shopping contagion is now threatening to eclipse that of our own Boxing Day, a holiday not taken in the U.S.
“There is only so much money that is going to go around, even as we are all increasing our consumer debt,” said Richard Talbot, president of Victoria-based retail consultancy Talbot Consultants International Inc., of the ever-growing retail and online deals bonanza a day after U.S. Thanksgiving.
AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette, James BuckSam Gehrke, left and Ryan Krietz toss a football with friends to pass the time while waiting in line at Best Buy for Black Friday sales, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, in Kalamazoo, Mich. The two began camping in line Monday night.
About 47% of Canadians plan to shop on Friday, up from 41% a year ago, according to the 2013 BMO Holiday Spending Outlook. In the meantime, 59% said they would shop at Boxing Day sales on Dec. 26, compared with 62% in 2012.
Canadian retailers were pretty much forced to hop on the Black Friday bandwagon in earnest two years ago in an attempt to keep consumers from crossing the border to take advantage of U.S. promotions at par, and they stepped up their efforts again after Canada introduced more generous duty free limits for cross-border shoppers last year.
BMO Capital Markets predicts Canadian holiday retail sales excluding gas and autos will rise 2% year over year in the November to December period.
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“The major effect of more people shopping on Black Friday is that it has kick-started the typical time when most people used to start their Christmas shopping by about two weeks,” Mr. Talbot said, noting the trend would not likely promote a broad rise in retail spending during the holiday or post-holiday season.
“When auto companies shifted the periods for their biggest [annual] sales of cars, it didn’t really increase overall spending in the category. And I suspect it will impact Boxing Day sales.”
But if Canadians end up spending fewer dollars on Boxing Day over time, he said, it will not likely affect retailer’s performance due to the rise of gift cards as presents and the traditional clearance role of Boxing Day sales, which had retailers selling of excess inventory at a lower margin on Dec. 26 until roughly the end of January.
Getty ImagesStaff at the Amazon Swansea fulfilment centre in Wales process orders as they prepare for their busiest time of the year — 'Black Friday' and 'Cyber Monday'.
On Friday in Canada, shopping centre giant Cadillac-Fairview will open 21 of its malls across the country early, starting at the darkened hour of 6 a.m. at Toronto’s Eaton Centre mall. Fifteen properties open at 7:00 a.m., and five properties at 8:00 a.m.
Target’s first Black Friday in Canada debuts at 7 a.m. at all 124 of its stores, as the retailer promises to slash prices on electronics, clothing, toys and kitchen appliances as well as offering doorcrasher specials to the first customers in line. Deals on offer include a 39-inch Magnavox HDTV on sale for $199.99, down from $379.99; an XBOX 4 for $129.99 regularly priced at $199.99, plus a $50 Target gift card; and up to 70% off of apparel and accessories.
Target Canada president Tony Fisher said last week that the retailer wanted to make a lasting impression in its first holiday season and help turn around the consumer perception that it is pricier than Walmart.
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Rival Walmart, meanwhile, is countering with a large push in its stores as well as taking advantage of its relaunched Canadian online shopping website, technology Target has yet to set up in Canada. This year Walmart has created a flyer enabled with Layar technology, which allows customers to purchase Walmart.ca offers off of the flyer using their mobile devices.
Like Canada, other markets have been pulled onto the Black Friday bandwagon as Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, democratized borderless online commerce with its own discrete country portals.
Black Friday’s girth has also been helped by global retailers from Wal-Mart to Best Buy cashing in on the viral marketing benefits of the Internet, and extending deals that they offer at their bricks-and-mortar stores in the U.S. to an increasing number of markets.
The U.S. hype began early this year when customers began camping outside American retail stores like Best Buy a week ago in major cities. Catching on for the first time this year in Britain, retailers such as Wal-Mart-owned Asda were promising consumers deals of up to 70%.