By Emma Melvin
Black Friday has typically been the most busy day of the year for retail stores, due to most items being at a cheap and high-discounted price. Recently however, the discounts have been lowering in percentage, making the items more expensive than they used to be in previous black friday years.
In 2015, a massive online study showed that the average markdown of black friday items were discounted at around 40 percent off. Ten years later, the average sale is now only 24 percent off on black friday.
Although there are still sales and discounts, you have to remember the role of inflation. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the past 10 years, inflation has increased by around 38 percent. The items are becoming more expensive with less money off, which means you are most likely paying triple or more for the same item ten years later.
With the black Friday deals being so much lower over time, is it even worth it? Benicia High School Senior; Madi Andrada went black Friday shopping this year. She said “Things were on sale for buy one, get one 50% off at some retail stores like Garage, Bath and Body works, and some brands at Sephora. I did not think it was worth it because it was so close to the original price, so I did not end up buying anything.”
Additionally, the holiday does not have as many customers crowding each store waiting for the one time deals. This is due to the upbringing of online shopping, in which 78% of United States citizens prefer to shop online, according to a study by United States Censeus. And possibly the lack of money being saved from black Friday deals.
According to data from RetailNext, U.S. in-store traffic from black Friday fell by about 4 percent in the past year. And a 9 percent increase of online shopping on black friday since last year.
Overall, many people were disappointed with the lack of deals on black Friday and did not believe it was worth going.
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