The headline said it was "retail chaos around the world." So-called Black Friday turned into black and blue Friday. There were at least two shootings at malls in Alabama and Memphis. Videos made their way around social media showing people tearing down signs, breaking down store doors--and people screaming and crying. From New York City to Sao Paulo to Instanbul, folks stampeded over each other to get the best deals. Call it season's beatings.
We still prefer to buy our Christmas presents in brick-and-mortar stores. But count us out on Black Friday. We have our health to think about . . . .
• CNBC reports that the average person will spend $1,000 this year on gifts, food and festive clothing, a 4.1 increase from last year. But the kicker is, nearly 30 percent of shoppers are still paying for last year's gifts. A large part of Christmas 2017 is still on the credit card. What are the odds that 2018 Christmas will still be on the account this time next year?
• A report on CNN says that retailers have little tricks to get people to spend more. It's nothing sinister, necessarily. But they do enhance the mood for shoppers to entice them to do more . . . shopping. "So if you walk right now into any retailer, you're going to hear festive music; you're going to have the smell of cinnamon and pine cones; you're going to see things that are very colorful and decorative," says Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, a personal finance expert. "The experiences online differ--in that, of course, you're not going to have the smells per se--but you'll definitely have brighter colors; larger holiday images that are more pronounced and kind of in your face on screen; the prices will be very small, but the happy, festive holiday image will be nice and big." Store managers can get folks to move fast, or slow, depending on music pumped into the place. They can "frame" items to up-sale. And there is one study that shows a snooty salesperson in a luxury store can even get people to spend more there. "One subtle button that some salespeople will try to push is to tap into your feeling of inadequacy," said Mrs. Khalfani-Cox. "It sounds a little crazy. It sounds almost offensive, but it's incredibly effective." Who knew?
• 'Tis the season for scams, too. These days, more than 40 percent of those buying items on the Internet buy them with their smartphones. But experts say the consumers are more vulnerable with those phones because they have much shorter address fields, so the consumer might not see the full address. And will be more likely to get ripped off. So be careful.
• The next time you're trying to get the kids to help clean up the house before visitors come by, tell them this story: A couple in south Louisiana--Mandeville, precisely--were tidying up their home before Thanksgiving guests arrived. Among the dusting and washing and filing, they found a few old lottery tickets on a nightstand. One of them turned out to be worth $1.8 million. The papers say if they would have waited two more weeks, the window would have closed on the winnings. The ticket was bought in the summer. It was only good for 180 days.
Now that's a happy holiday story!
Editorial on 11/26/2018