Turns Out Not Everybody Wants to Go Shopping on Thanksgiving

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Getting a jump on Black Friday sales by opening on Thanksgiving may have been a double-edged sword for retailers. Buzzfeed investigates the effect of this year's extended-hours, which have been called a "dual-burden" by Nomura analyst Simeon Siegel.

Previously, retailers only had to focus on roughly three hours of early-morning Black Friday shopping, but with openings creeping earlier and earlier, stores now have to concentrate on a much longer period of time, while analyzing when to put out their best deals. "Additionally, we'd expect store level costs to increase, with holiday payroll for Thanksgiving-related staff along with the costs of opening the store for greater periods of time of time to sell a similar amount of goods," Siegel's report explains.

Customers are going when the deals are best, and not necessarily shopping all weekend. According to Shopkick data, 30% of all Black Friday store visits happened before 3am on Friday, compared to 18% last year. With Thanksgiving day staffing issues and related costs, combined with the growing influence of web shopping, Buzzfeed wonders: why not move deals back into Friday, even if shopping starts at midnight?
· Why Keep Opening Stores On Thanksgiving? [Buzzfeed]
· Record-Breaking Black Friday Online Sales Might Kill Cyber Monday [Racked]
· Are Black Friday Sales Worth the Hype? Experts Weigh In [Racked]