Josh Elledge - Chief Executive Angel
It's hard to say who is looking forward to the Black Friday game more, customers or retailers. The retailer's end game is to have youspendas much money as possible. The consumer's is tosaveas much money as possible. To win, you need to strategize and to understand the game.
Strategy 1:The first play of the retailer is to get shoppers to plan to shop their store. Eager to secure dedicated in-store shoppers, many retailers have already released their Black Friday ads.
The first counter-play of the consumeris to use those ads to make informed, level-headed shopping plans. Compare prices, quality, limits, and terms store-to-store. Notate the differences. Notate any return policy specifications, and consider skipping items that you can't return later if you find a better deal. Analyze quality and items numbers to be sure you would be getting the exact item you seek. Become fully informed about your items of interest, then make a firm plan on where you'll shop, and what you'll skip.
In addition to checkingthe SavingsAngel.com Daily Deals and Freebies blogfor released Black Friday ads, Black Friday sites are in the consumer's corner. Here are two good ones to check out:
Strategy 2:Once they have shoppers interested,the retailer angles to get you to visit them first. Retailers know that shoppers go for the items they want most first; and, once in store, this can result in consumers spending big there, and less elsewhere. They leverage this knowledge and strategize with two top moves to gain the upper hand. The first is to beat their competition by opening earlier, and/or using timed sale pricing; and the second is to try to make the purchase process seem as organized, and easy, as possible.
The consumer's playis to time store visits accordingly. Stores seek to strike the perfect balance between getting as many shoppers through their lines as possible, and keeping them in the store as long as possible. They know the longer a customer is in the store, the more they buy. The smart play is to weigh the benefits of waiting for timed sales to begin, against the value of what you'd get. To help decide, use to your advantage the store's strategy for handling the most sought-after items. For example, this year Walmart is deploying a wristband strategy. Armed with this information,consumers could plan to obtain a wristband, leave and visit another store, and then return to get their item. This type of game plan is best executed with more than one person shopping, and with a very close eye on the time. To learn the plans of your store(s) of choice, check their Black Friday ad, their website, or even chat with a local store manager.
Strategy 3:Retailers spread the best dealsthroughout the store. Shrewd at capitalizing on the impulse, adrenaline, and long lines of Black Friday, many will even set up checkout lines that circumnavigate the whole space. Of course, this is for safety, customer load, and helps with security, but it also has a lucrative side benefit. It gets countless eyes passing other “deals”. Retailers spend days organizing, planning, and preparing to make as many items look like steals as possible. They know this results in customers buying more than originally intended; the bread and butter of the retailer's Black Friday.
An informed consumer can block this playwith three moves: one made ahead of the day, and two used the day of. First, thoroughly analyze every item on every page of their ad. Don't just skim. By carefully looking, false deals become obvious. Second, once shopping, you won't get sucked in by the psychology of displays, others grabbing armloads of items, and the fear that you're “missing out”. Third, tag-team with friends. One person gets in line immediately upon entering a busy, backed-up store, while others fan out and grab only the pre-planned items (and nothing else) for each shopper, returning to the checkout line quickly.
Strategy 4:On hot items,retailers entice many to fight over few. They know only a fraction of shoppers will actually land the big deals. They count on most not noticing the details of their game.
But the game-savvy consumer knows this standard move, and looks for it ahead of time. Using the “truth in advertising” law as an advantage, check ad notations for clues. Beware of items that are stated as having a “minimum”. (Such as a “minimum of 12″.) Those notations don't usually mean the store will get more, but the opposite. The store will probably only receive 12 of that item. Now it's time to either choose to make a play for that big item ““ or sit that move out. Smart consumers know that big items will go on sale again. Sometimes waiting, while watching sales and available coupons, yields a bigger deal than the Black Friday one ever was.
