COVID-19 COVID-19 aftermath: will Black Friday and Thanksgiving "doorbuster" crowd sales be changed?

jackandcat

jackandcat

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Apr 30, 2019
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We don't yet know how many Americans will experience serious COVID-19 illnesses or even deaths. However, our nation will not be the same from this time forward. For the most part, fear will linger about whether COVID-19 or another life-threatening virus comes back. People will tend to be far, far less willing to stay in crowded conditions, not just in stores but also on aircraft, buses, elevators and other public places.

Will Black Friday and Thanksgiving as we have known them still exist? How will stores deal with crowds throughout the holiday season? Will sales volumes be lower than in prior years, due to the extreme financial pain experienced by most American households due to the COVID-19 economic breakdown?

How will stores address emerging demands of some shoppers, who may have a bad taste in the mouth towards China's corrupt handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, insisting on American-made products - even if they are higher-priced - instead of imported cheap stuff from China?

Finally, is there any prayer that maybe - just maybe - after America slowly recovers from this national emergency, militant public backlash might shame stores into actually closing on Thanksgiving? Would America's retailers defy a massive public outcry, so that all Americans can actually "give thanks" instead of being forced to work in a hyper-crowded store?
 
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jackandcat said:
How will stores address emerging demands of some shoppers, who may have a bad taste in the mouth towards China's corrupt handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, insisting on American-made products - even if they are higher-priced - instead of imported cheap stuff from China?
Click to expand...

Our politicians are too dickless and paid off to question why America is uplifting China's middle class instead of its own. Their voters demand a thing, but their corporate donors say "dance for me, dance for me, dance for me oh oh oh, move for me, move for me, move for me ay ay ay, and when you're done I'll make you do it all again" or something like that, and the cycle continues anew
 
can't touch this said:
Our politicians are too dickless and paid off to question why America is uplifting China's middle class instead of its own. Their voters demand a thing, but their corporate donors say "dance for me, dance for me, dance for me oh oh oh, move for me, move for me, move for me ay ay ay, and when you're done I'll make you do it all again" or something like that, and the cycle continues anew
Click to expand...

While politicians and corporations think the American public are shouting back at them: "HARDER! HARDER! FASTER! FASTER!"
 
This is an unprecedented situation in our modern time. I cannot think of anything except surviving right now, and taking small joys from the little things like sitting on my porch with a cup of coffee or glass of wine.

I hate crowds anyway and avoid situations where there will be too many people around, so if I make it through this my life won't change that much.
 
Also, I think that, while some people will still remain cautious (me being one), once the restrictions are loosened many people will go right back to their old unsanitary, all-up-in-your-face ways, thinking ok, everything's fine now, and then this will start all over again.
 
Experts in the field are anticipating a smaller boomerang break out sometime in the Fall of this year.
 
jackandcat said:
Will sales volumes be lower than in prior years, due to the extreme financial pain experienced by most American households due to the COVID-19 economic breakdown?
Click to expand...

Probably, for years to come.

jackandcat said:
How will stores address emerging demands of some shoppers, who may have a bad taste in the mouth towards China's corrupt handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, insisting on American-made products - even if they are higher-priced - instead of imported cheap stuff from China?
Click to expand...

LOL. People (in general) won't insist on America-made products, once the price tag hits. Unless there manages to be some progress made on income inequality, people who shop at places like Target won't have the luxury to be that picky. The rich don't care.

In general, I agree that much will be different, but nobody knows what that will look like yet. Much of it, I think, will depend on how many of us die, and where.
 
We've seen a few places in the US and overseas where COVID-19 cases have been bouncing back upward. We've also seen some situations where people aren't observing social distancing and wearing of facial covering. Soooo.......

What is Black Friday going to look like in 2020?
 
A little slower than last yr because some people will still be un/under employed. And because most people have spent their stimulus. It won't be 2007 but it will be a little slower. More people waiting till the last week before Christmas to do the majority of their shopping. But it all naturally hinges on how the media, social and otherwise, plays it. Will they be harping on and on about the unemployment numbers? Will they be talking about all the debt personal and business caused by the virus? Etc. Or will they be constantly banging on and on about how much of a come back the economy has made? Or stories of how everyone wants a big Christmas to celebrate the end of this unprecedented yr?
Either way online sales will still be a big win.
 
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We might have to wait and see how the school reopening goes . Many are saying that there would be another wave or whatever of this virus . If that happens, it would impact Black Friday . May be retail companies will depend mostly on online sales .
 
I think lots of people will come in the stores because they like to do that. I also think that there will be a huge increase in Drive Ups and OPUs. Things seem to be back to the usual amount of people in the store and out.
 
Black Friday will be successful based on whether or not the items offered are substantial savings. Based on what I've seen throughout the pandemic, if the offers are good, the stores will be packed. We hit our "number" enough times throughout that I have no doubt people will be shopping. I don't know where they are getting their money with the number of furloughed and unemployed, but credit card companies have to be doing the happy dance right now. Even with the extra $600 for unemployment, many people in our state have yet to see a dime of unemployment payments. Many never got the stimulus. And still they fill Target, maskless and disregarding any sense of social distance. People do not want to change anything about their pre-pandemic life and I don't expect that to change for Black Friday.
 

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