Dale,
You have been living abroad too long. Competitive Shopping will soon be an Olympic event.
While not my cup of tea, to each their own. Different strokes and all that.
...an annual ritual of stamina and social theater: the early-morning after-Thanksgiving sale. Flocking to malls and shopping plazas to jockey for holiday bargains has become as much of a tradition as family gatherings and football games.
November 26, 2005
Competitive Early-Bird Shopping Becomes a Holiday Norm
By MELANIE WARNER
PARAMUS, N.J., Nov. 25 - As his wife and two children slept, John Rudd made himself a large thermos of coffee, got into his blue minivan shortly before midnight on Thursday and drove to the Best Buy in Paramus. Mr. Rudd had his eye on a $379.99 Toshiba laptop, marked down from $749.99, and a Kodak digital camera, regularly $249.99, for $129.99.
But when he arrived, Mr. Rudd said, he was shocked to find almost a hundred other brave souls already lined up at the front door, wrapped in blankets and shivering. "I didn't think I'd be the first one here, but this is ridiculous," he said. "I feel like I'm late."
And so it goes at what has become an annual ritual of stamina and social theater: the early-morning after-Thanksgiving sale. Flocking to malls and shopping plazas to jockey for holiday bargains has become as much of a tradition as family gatherings and football games.
Known as doorbusters, these sales have become an increasingly crucial part of overall annual sales for retailers. Carefully selected and priced, doorbuster items are meant to give a jump- start to holiday spending; the average shopper intends to spend $738, up 5.1 percent from last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.
This year, the discounts on doorbuster items were 30 to 60 percent. Best Buy, Circuit City and Staples all offered small items like iPod Mini cases and surge protectors free with a mail-in rebate. Best Buy, Staples, Macy's and Sears gave out gift cards worth $10 and up.
While they date back at least a decade, doorbusters have, in the last two years, propelled the day after Thanksgiving into the biggest shopping day of the year, displacing the Saturday before Christmas, according to ShopperTrak. Analysts say that each year these sales become more extravagant, with earlier starts, deeper discounts and longer lines.
David Schick, an analyst at Legg Mason, says it is now crucial for many retailers to run these sales. Not doing so, Mr. Schick says, would be akin to handing over customers to competitors. "These things are now almost as much of a Thanksgiving tradition as turkey and football, where people plan where they are going to shop the next day," he said.
At the Best Buy in Paramus, the line swelled to nearly 1,000, according to Best Buy employees, who said they actually counted. Prospective shoppers circled around the large brick building to the back of the store, near the Dumpsters. Some came with chairs and food, others just wrapped themselves in multiple layers and endured the subfreezing weather.
But, as the saying goes, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Many customers in that line did not get the items they had set out to purchase. Mr. Rudd, for instance, got the $129.99 Kodak camera, but he did not show up early enough to get the $379.99 Toshiba laptop.
To avoid a stampede when the store opened, Best Buy associates handed out a limited number of vouchers one hour before opening that allowed customers to buy the advertised items. Most Best Buy stores opened their doors at 5 a.m., but because of Bergen County regulations, the Paramus store opened at 7 a.m.
Greg Saadi of the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn said he, too, missed out on getting the Toshiba laptop. "I can't find anyone who got one of those vouchers," grumbled Mr. Saadi, who was even closer to the front of the line than Mr. Rudd. "I don't think they even handed any out."
At least one lucky shopper, Andy Lim of Hawthorne, N.J., was able to purchase the elusive Toshiba laptop. Mr. Lim said he had been waiting in line since 8 p.m. Thursday. "I can't move my legs," he declared, once in the store and holding his new computer under his arm.
Jon Starr, an area manager for Best Buy, said the store did not release data on what quantity of items it sells as doorbusters. A store circular stated that each store would sell a minimum of 10 of the Toshiba laptops.
Among retailers, doorbuster strategy is a closely guarded secret. Best Buy, Toys "R" Us and Circuit City all declined to talk about how they approach the selection and pricing of doorbuster items. Mr. Starr said that products selected for this year's sale were those most popular with customers.
But analysts say that because the many doorbuster items are priced below cost, companies work to minimize their losses either by selecting items they are trying to get rid of or items whose manufacturer has agreed to share some of the loss.
Mr. Schick of Legg Mason says that doorbusters work best as elaborate marketing initiatives for retailers. "It's like an expensive billboard," he said. "Companies are trying to communicate to the customers that they stand for value."
Stores are also hoping to drive additional sales. Lois Huff, an analyst at Retail Forward, said that retailers were counting on customers not to do what Mr. Lim did, which was leave immediately with his one item. "It's all about getting the customer hooked," Ms. Huff said.
Lars Perner, an assistant professor of marketing San Diego State who studies consumer shopping behavior, said that during big sales customers often engaged in what he called "mental accounting," spending more money on one thing because they have saved on another. "If people get a great deal, they see that as a gain and are often likely to spend that 'gain' before they leave the store," Professor Perner said.
In Orlando, Fla., pursuit of those "gains" caused a brawl outside of a Wal-Mart. In Paramus, however, the crowds were much more civil. Worried that people would grow angry at the prospect of another two hours outside (many did not know in advance about the delayed opening), the Best Buy employees worked to keep the peace.
At 3 a.m., representatives emerged from the store with coffee from Dunkin' Donuts and several electric heaters. Shortly after 5 a.m., two energetic associates tried to rally the crowd into doing a Best Buy cheer. When that strategy met with limited success, they tossed out T-shirts and candy.
"I'm too cold to even pick that up," said Kate Warren, who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, as she watched a piece of taffy fly over her head.
Yet, despite the arctic temperatures, shoppers remained upbeat. Valerie Leone, a student from Clifton, N.J., said she was there for "fun" and was not planning on buying anything except a few DVD's. Mr. Saadi from Bay Ridge said that during his seven hours in line he bonded with fellow shoppers. "Everyone here at the front of the line knows each other now," he said.
With the sky above the nearby CompUSA finally starting to turn pink and the time inching toward 7 a.m., the employees inside Best Buy prepared for the big moment. After a round of cheering and yelping, Mr. Starr issued his final order. "Clear the door! Zone up!" he exclaimed.
And with that, the sliding glass doors parted and a stream of customers clutching vouchers burst into the store.
nytimes.com |
