You are standing outside at four in the morning, bundled in a jacket and gloves, waiting in a mile long line outside Tyson’s Corner Mall. This time consuming wait not is out of the ordinary for the day otherwise known as Black Friday.
The day after thanksgiving has been defined as the biggest American shopping day of the year for the past decade. Stores coat the media is sales ads and commercials, increasing hype for items such as computers and children’s toys.
But, as our society becomes more reliant on technology, it seems that cold weather and large crowds are less and less appealing to many.
Cyber Monday is the new trend in America. The Monday after Black Friday, department stores update their websites and add hundreds of sale items in hopes of getting rid of all out-of-season products in preparation for a new shipment. This allows those looking for good sales an easy way to save money, and stay home.
Being a fan of Cyber Monday, I find it much more appealing to sit in a warm house with a lit fire and laptop within reach rather than standing in line surrounded by a bunch of strangers in below-freezing weather.
Often times, the sales that occur online are as good as, or even better than the ones, that occur in the stores because shipping is often free and the variety of products is larger.
Although Cyber Monday is a good alternative to the rush of Black Friday, it seems that in general, these sales are not as amazing as they were only a few years ago.
Starting after Columbus Day, many department stores begin dropping prices of their products in preparation for Christmas, hoping that sales will begin to have an upward trend.
For instance, the department store known as Target has a current sale going on called the “Before the Rush Sale.” This sale, and others like it, allows shoppers to purchase items at prices almost as low as those during Black Friday for a longer period of time, which is often favorable to being forced to purchase an item for a set period of time.
Although many still participate in the events of Black Friday, its popularity is slowly declining as the digital age begins taking over, and Americans’ patience begins to grow as they wait for other sales to pop up.
