I know some people who actually look forward to going out and getting deals after Thanksgiving. But not me. And normally I enjoy going out and shopping. I enjoy it as an event where my wife and I or my kids and I can go out and have a shared experience. Plus, it’s much nicer to be able to try on that jacket before you buy it or to pick up and compare different brands of a product. But Black Friday I do not enjoy.
And as much as I like online shopping these days, you don’t get that same retail experience. Online shopping compared to in-store retail shopping is like comparing going to the grocery store freezer section for some fish vs actually going to the lake to fish. Sometimes you want the whole experience. But I always hate Black Friday shopping.
So here is my dream: a reverse Black Friday where everything is 50-80% more expensive and you have to pay for parking. If everyone knows that on this one day, prices will be jacked up significantly, they would probably skip going to the mall. But just to be safe, there would also need to be a price to park your car to keep the browsers away.
In-store retail shopping is made up of two components, the experience and the trophy. The trophy part everyone is familiar with. By the end of your hunt, you want a trophy to take home with you. The experience part is almost as important. If it’s not important to you, well, then that’s what Amazon.com is for. But you want a pleasant environment to stroll with your companions, pretty displays to look at, and a place to sit and visit while you shop. Having some good places nearby to grab a bite to eat also helps.
But when parking is very difficult to find, the stores are all super crowded and messy, and anything you want to buy is out of stock. It’s much harder to enjoy the shopping experience. This is why I dream of a reverse Black Friday where retailers pick one day before Christmas when everyone raises their prices. It would be like shopping first class where the stores are all uncrowded and orderly. Perhaps there would be live music and refreshments as well. But just being able to easily find a parking spot would be nice.
The price hikes would also help to guarantee that you would find merchandise in stock. Retailers would gladly hold back some stock for this special day if they thought that they could make 20-80% more on the price. And when merchandise is being marked down online, it is often sold out online as well.
No, I don’t think we’ll ever see Reverse Black Friday. For more reasons than I care to get into. Although, I think it would be a smashing success. I imagine it would be like a holiday party in someone else’s house. You and your friends could all get dressed up and go out. There would be music and refreshments, plenty of parking, and fully stocked store shelves.
Maybe I’m just showing my age. After a while, some things become more important and you’re more willing to pay for them. Quality is one of those things. Privacy another. But on a more tangible level, having a more pleasant experience is also on the list.
So here is my dream: a reverse Black Friday where everything is 50-80% more expensive and you have to pay for parking. If everyone knows that on this one day, prices will be jacked up significantly, they would probably skip going to the mall. But just to be safe, there would also need to be a price to park your car to keep the browsers away.
In-store retail shopping is made up of two components, the experience and the trophy. The trophy part everyone is familiar with. By the end of your hunt, you want a trophy to take home with you. The experience part is almost as important. If it’s not important to you, well, then that’s what Amazon.com is for. But you want a pleasant environment to stroll with your companions, pretty displays to look at, and a place to sit and visit while you shop. Having some good places nearby to grab a bite to eat also helps.
But when parking is very difficult to find, the stores are all super crowded and messy, and anything you want to buy is out of stock. It’s much harder to enjoy the shopping experience. This is why I dream of a reverse Black Friday where retailers pick one day before Christmas when everyone raises their prices. It would be like shopping first class where the stores are all uncrowded and orderly. Perhaps there would be live music and refreshments as well. But just being able to easily find a parking spot would be nice.
The price hikes would also help to guarantee that you would find merchandise in stock. Retailers would gladly hold back some stock for this special day if they thought that they could make 20-80% more on the price. And when merchandise is being marked down online, it is often sold out online as well.
No, I don’t think we’ll ever see Reverse Black Friday. For more reasons than I care to get into. Although, I think it would be a smashing success. I imagine it would be like a holiday party in someone else’s house. You and your friends could all get dressed up and go out. There would be music and refreshments, plenty of parking, and fully stocked store shelves.
Maybe I’m just showing my age. After a while, some things become more important and you’re more willing to pay for them. Quality is one of those things. Privacy another. But on a more tangible level, having a more pleasant experience is also on the list.
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