the buzz log

Black Friday  sounds like another doomsday disaster movie, but relax, it's actually the name for the biggest shopping day of the year. It's a retailing term for the day after Thanksgiving, when you, the consumer, shop for bargains and they, the businesses, rake in enough sales to be "in the black:"  profitable for the rest of the year. At least they can hope.

Well, holiday bargain hunters: Christmas has come even earlier this season. Not only were the sweetest of deals leaked online way before the designated day, but plenty of savvy shoppers have hopped on to the Web before they head to the mall to elbow their way into the superlow prices of the year.

Yahoo! searches for "Black Friday sales" have grown a whopping 500% in the last seven days. Shopaholics are also looking up "Black Friday specials," "Black Friday ads," and "when is Black Friday." The best part, many stores are doling out pre-Black Friday discounts for the way-early bird who's paying attention.

While the deals are supposedly rolled out for holiday shoppers, let's just be honest: Surveys show that the shopping spree isn't always to give gifts, but to get good deals for yourself.

It's OK, your secret's safe with us. And believe us, lots of people are searching the Web for deals galore. Lookups on specialized sites that track store specials, like blackfriday.info have soared 600%. Black-Friday.net searches are up 500%. And searches on GotaDeal.com, have spiked an amazing 2,000% in the last week.

Shoppers ares scouring Yahoo! for hot items including: The zhu zhu hamster, iPod Touch, the Nook e-reader, Reebok's Easytone sneakers, Dell computers and LCD TVs.

Sears is offering "doorbuster" deals on gizmos like Kodak digital cameras and Kenmore microwaves every Saturday till Christmas. At $3 each, Target will be practically giving away appliances like coffee makers and toasters. And Best Buy's deals include deep discounts on Blu-Ray players, Sony notebooks, and Xbox 360 packages.

Oh, and we're sure there are still plenty of good gift ideas to get other people, too. If you're wondering what to buy everyone else, check out Time's rundown of top gadget gifts.

The only doomsday scenario in this Black Friday may be where to find room for all your new things.

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Filed under: Shopping

July through October are the months when most Americans are born, at least according to the last time the government counted up all the little fingers and toes. Moms-to-be are starting to show now, propelling them into full surfing mode for maternity wear. Luckily, a few have support: Recently, 1 out of 5 searches for “maternity clothes” on Yahoo! were conducted by men. (Otherwise, there goes their comfy flannel shirts to the cause.)

With Mother's Day only weeks away, figuring out what to give a mama-to-be might be a little easier if you knew what she craved. Below are items on some ladies' Search wish lists (besides a really good sardine milkshake and some chalk-flavored chips).

• Hot Mamas-to-Be. A rapid weight gain doesn’t mean you can't—and don't want to—look good. "Sexy" ensembles have swelled up more than a third compared to last year. Online shoppers have considered “maternity belly rings,” “sexy maternity T-shirts,” “hot maternity dresses,” “erotic maternity lingerie,” and even “strapless maternity dresses.” Here's hoping gravity holds for those fashionistas.


• If the Shoe Doesn't Fit: As tummies swell, so do the tootsies, which explains a threefold Web surge for “maternity shoes,” compared to last year. Unlike the come-hither looks sought above, more pragmatic considerations dictate what goes on aching feet, namely "comfortable."


• Oh Snap. Who says women don’t want to be photographed when they’re heavier? Searches for "maternity photography" (as well as inspiration for such poses) are up 48%. The queries come from all over the country—from San Diego, Calif., to Jackson, Miss., to Fort Myers, Florida. Demi Moore may have helped to wallop the pregnancy photo barrier with her 1991 Vanity Fair cover; before then, a woman's "condition" was something to be shrouded in lots of fabric. But the biz is also a natural outgrowth of the big wedding-photography boom.


• Hey, I'm Birthin' Here. Will New York see a population boomlet? At least, that’s the region doing the most research into maternity clothes, followed by Washington D.C., Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Either those ladies are more fashion-conscious, or expect to hear the pitter-patter of little feet in those areas.

Filed under: Shopping, Fashion, Photography, Pregnancy, Women, Shoes

When the legend of capitalism is studied millennia from now, will future economists recognize discount sales as the slippery slopes that they are? After all, once you knock 50% off a price tag, it's going to take that and then some to get shoppers to come back again.

And don't retailers know it. Every year they churn out massive discounts and incentives to inspire the increasingly crazy shopping that occurs once we've stopped eating turkey. This time around, though, consumers and retailers have been playing a game of chicken in this woeful economy.

So far, needy desperation had led to discounts well in advance of the holiday season, leading to spikes for that awkward term, "pre-black friday sales." Black Friday may sound like the title of a low-budget holiday slasher flick, but in this sequel not all buyers have fallen victim to incremental cuts, and many may be holding out for the bitter final markdown.

Indeed, intense online vigilance continues to show a pent-up need to buy: Cumulative searches for sale-related terms ("day after thanksgiving sale", "walmart black friday") and sites tracking them ("theblackfriday.com," "tgi black friday") are 38% higher than the same 2007 shopping period.

True, the Sacramento Bee claims "big early markdowns could rob Black Friday of some of its traditional oomph." Then again, the New York Post reports that shopping centers expect Thanksgiving sales to be higher... but profit margins smaller. Search activity may be leaning towrds the Post's slightly more optimistic outlook: Would-be shoppers have been scouting out way more stores in advance than last year, such as:
  • Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Sears, Target, Circuit City, Kmart, Menards, Macy's, Meijer, Apple, Amazon, Fry's, Kohl's, Home Depot, Office Depot, Shopko, Best Buy, Lowes, Staples, Sam's Club, JC Penney, Old Navy, Costco.

Naturally, part of this increased online activity could due merely to savvier consumer behavior about checking for sales info online (especially finding those ads so conveniently "leaked" in advance).

Or perhaps consumers realize that this year, they don't have to pay the real Black Friday prices: nasty crowds, dwindling inventories, and mall overload. Instead, they can bide their time or, as they've been already doing, walk away entirely. In this game of chicken, the retailers have already blinked, and may be preparing for the crash as well.

Filed under: Shopping, Holidays, Sales, Economics