It is finally here, like actually today! In our old military parlance, we would term it “Bravo Foxtrot.” We will use that instead of the public term for today, since it has been used already. “Black Friday” seems to have been going on for weeks!

You may have experienced the disorientation, since today launches the 2024 Black Friday holiday adventure. It reflects fundamental change in the way we operate as a society. But many retailers have made their Black Friday deals available online in recent years, turning it into a hybrid sort of event; you can score great deals by camping out on a store’s website instead of its literal doorstep nowadays.

Modern Black Fridays have also tended to spill well beyond the bounds of their traditional single-day slots. It’s not abnormal to see retailers offering “early Black Friday deals” and “Black Friday preview deals” even before Halloween to keep things ultra-competitive.

When does this Black Friday thing start?

Well, it occurred to us it might be today! Or last month, we are not sure these days. Black Friday technically falls on Friday, Nov. 24 this year. It is part of the conversion of the old Colonial holiday giving thanks for another long weekend that will add opportunities to get in lines at malls and become frantic.

Who is Doing This thing?

We are in an interesting period of change, aren’t we? Some of the paragons of capitalism appear to have emerged from this early blast of shopping with a distinct “Woke” tilt. Our favorites are the institutions that are filled with righteous adaptation about something, though we are not exactly sure what.

Target and Anheuser-Bush might be at the top of the list, but other merchants have joined the sales parade. ‘Best Buy’ is another of the participants, as they began Bravo Foxtrot Early Access for Members at the end of October. ‘General Black Friday Deals for Everyone!’ replaced that event on Oct. 30. They kicked off the usual stuff last Friday, so you can appreciate our mild confusion. Today’s events allow everyone to leap onto the pile, with the last of the participants joining on the Cyber Monday Savings Event this weekend, on Sunday, Nov. 26.

Target and WalMart came up to bat just before Halloween. Target unveiled plans to offer four weeks of early Black Friday deals ahead of the actual holiday. WalMart ran two Black Friday events in November, both events including three hours of early access for paid (non-trial) members.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezo’s Amazon geared up to host its own extended Black Friday sale last week and will shift into Cyber Monday Mode on Saturday, Nov. 25. New deals will drop “as often as every five minutes during select periods” during the events, and a handful of limited-time doorbusters will be available during the New York Jets/Miami Dolphins football game on Black Friday. We appreciate a little confusion, but the idea that the Friday after Turkey-Day being a football day leaves us a little lost.

Are Things Actually Cheaper On Black Friday?

We see many items go on sale at deep discounts in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, but we always encounter new record lows on “the day of” Dark Fridayness. It is possible an item on that wish list may be worth buying during a pre-Black Friday sale, or on one of the post sales that will be introduced tomorrow. Products that sell out ahead of Bravo Foxtrot aren’t always restocked for the actual event. That is a factor that appeals to our sense of sales direction.

How Long Does Black Friday Last?

If you ask the people who used to be journalists and editors who cover this stuff, the have been following the event for 84 years. In truth, Black Friday is no longer just on Friday — since retailers started rolling out their deals in October, we can honestly say that Black Friday is now a two-month affair.

We will get serious tomorrow, on Saturday for the opening of Cyber Monday. After that, everything switches into Charlie Mike Monday mode. The deals are largely the same, but the search terms are now totally different.

When Does Cyber Monday start?

It is normally on a Monday that has an extra word inserted. The old official date for Monday starts on Monday, Nov. 27. The online push for shopping holidays over the last few years has meant that they have now kind of blurred together.

The National Retail Federation officially coined the term “Cyber Monday” in 2005 after it noticed that in previous years, the Monday after Thanksgiving saw a massive uptick in online sales. The change was due to retailers starting to vie for a slice of the Black Friday pie. Shoppers were waiting to peruse the deals on their faster work computers come Monday morning. In those ancient days, office desk-top PC’s had better broadband than home setups.)

There’s little difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday these days because of the former’s shift online, and based on our experience, neither is a categorically “better” day to shop. Sometimes it’s worth waiting to see if an item you find on sale during Black Friday goes on sale at an even cheaper price on Cyber Monday — but again, you also run the risk of it selling out.

We recall those old military days with fondness. We always knew what DAYS the best deals happen, and it tends to be the ones that end in the letter “Yankee.”

Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com