PERSPECTIVES Black Friday isnât what it used to be Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude â and sales. Black Friday, though, didnât come with the digital age. The late 19th century brought Santa as a finish to Thanksgiving Day parades. The not-so-subtle message: time to start shopping. The holidayâs prompted presidential proclamations. Lincoln chose the last Thursday of November. Roosevelt, prodded in 1939 by hungry retailers wanting Christmas shopping to start sooner, moved it to the next-to-last Thursday. It took a literal act of Congress in 1941 to get it moved to the 4th Thursday of the month. That resolution made it tough for any future president to mess with the date. This yearâs Black Friday may seem almost as different from recent norms as it is from those early days of parades and presidential proclamations. Store door buster crowds are unlikely as COVID concerns continue. Selling and buying is happening more online. Black Friday sales, now starting as early as June, are diluting purchases during the traditional Christmas shopping season. Shortages continue, leading consumers grab whatâs in stock now, rather than wait for discounts. Business & Buyer Considerations Company owners need to get more creative with their sales. Lowest price no longer rules. Instead, consumers are looking for advantages to buying choices. If youâre shipping product, donât forget about the new USPS holiday surcharges. Thatâs going to erode profit if you donât plan for it. Consumers beware. Just because someone says itâs a sale doesnât mean itâs so. With increased information online, itâs easy to research good deals. Avoid impulse buying decisions. They usually cost you more.
FINANCIAL FIGURES By Michael Shelton Executive Summary: The Black Friday rush may be gone for good. Thatâs not a bad thing.
Security concerns Know the difference between buying with a debit or credit card. Fraudulent debit card purchases are hard to recover. Your bank may say theyâll help, but once the moneyâs been taken from your account, itâs usually gone for good. Banks and credit unions donât have the back office to spot fraudulent transactions. That means ACH transactions, which can be easily captured by skimmers at gas stations, arenât protected. A thief with access to your debit card information can withdraw all the money in your account. Credit card companies invest in systems to track purchases, flag unusual transactions, and warn you if things seem off. Most fraudulent credit card purchases are covered in full by the card issuer. Thatâs why itâs smarter to make online, gas, and other holiday purchases with credit vs. debit cards. The Black Friday rush may be gone for good. Thatâs not a bad thing. Being more grateful on Thanksgiving could do us all some good.
Michael Shelton is a financial retirement counselor. Reach him at michael@discover360 Financial.com
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