Oh it's on people. Today is the BUSIEST shipping day of the year! Yes, I said "shipping" and not shopping. Why is this happening? One of the reasons has to do with the voracity people were purchasing online. According to Adobe Digital Insights Nov. 1 through Dec. 13, shoppers spent $66.91 billion online, an 8.31% leap over last year between November 1st through December 13th. That means one thing:
THIS IS CRUNCH TIME FOR UPS, FED EX AND USPS!
I went on MSNBC to talk about what to expect this Black Friday. As I said in an earlier blog post, this year's Black Friday is more of a "Grey November" and more people are starting to do their shopping online starting September 30th. One difference in this year's Black Friday is the uptick in app usage to find good deals. People are using apps like RetailMeNot to show price differentiation to make sure they're paying the best price possible. Apps like RetailMeNot are able to check which discounts are going on at which stores, and then offer coupons to users to get even better deals. Clearly the Internet Age and the ability to research beforehand is having an effect on consumer behavior—smarter purchase decisions are just a click or an app download away!
