When people think of Thanksgiving, most think of families gathering around the dinner table to enjoy a feast full of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. For others, they spend the entire night looking at magazines and catalogs, scrounging for Black Friday sales to prepare for the long day of shopping ahead of them. If you’re like me, you do both.
Shopaholics anticipate the long day of shopping that comes after Thanksgiving. Waking up at four in the morning to drive to the mall and stand in a long line outside the door as they wait for the stores to open. Nothing beats the excitement of that rush. However, how safe can this really be? There have been news reports of people getting trampled, and even murdered in severe cases while rushing to get all the best deals and make the most out of their shopping trip. As someone who loves to spend my paycheck on some retail therapy, I don’t even think Black Friday sales are worth all the danger.
Cyber Monday is where it’s at. I like to shop at a variety of stores, so I usually know things like sizes, materials and quality fairly well. Online shopping allows me to track what’s in my cart and how much I’m spending. It also allows me to keep multiple tabs open, meaning I can shop at various places at once. I take my time when I’m online shopping and a lot of that time is also spent looking at reviews. When you’re inside a store, you can see the product for yourself, but you won’t know how reliable the product is since you haven’t used it yet. With items like electronics, reviews tell you if the product is really worth it or not.
What I also enjoy about Black Friday and Cyber Monday is most times, deals don’t just last on those days. I’ve seen sales stretching from three weeks before Thanksgiving, claiming they’re part of Black Friday. There’s often an extra discount for rewards members, which I can also track online. Everything can be done in the comfort of your own home.
Aside from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, let’s talk about location. Living in Illinois, the weather is unpredictable. Personally, I get cold in any weather, so going out with the chance of wind and snow is not for me. Since everyone wants to go shopping, roads are incredibly busy and dangerous to drive in. I can save a lot of gas just by staying home and shopping online.
Overall, Black Friday shopping for me is very different from the traditional going out to stores. Online shopping is the most convenient for me, and it could be for you as well.
