CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We are officially on the clock! Sixteen days away from the official start of the holiday shopping season.
Black Friday is Friday, November 26 and Cyber Monday is Monday, November 29.
On today's Protecting Your Money segment, a TAMU-CC professor weighs in on whether shoppers really save money on either day.
Do you know how Black Friday got its name?
According to BlackFriday.com, from a retail standpoint, it refers to stores moving from red to black. In other words, sales statistics that were in the red—at a loss—moved to the black—making a profit—because of holiday sales.
Black Friday usually begins the day after Thanksgiving, and according to investopedia.com, Cyber Monday began in November 2005.
In 2020, Cyber Monday sales revenue exceeded Black Friday revenues by nearly $2 billion.
So what do we shop for on these two days?
Gaming consoles. Video games. Technology. Toys. Phones. You name it.
Dr. Kent Byus, professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at TAMU-CC, says one thing to be very aware of, particularly this year, are delays in the supply chain.
What does that mean to you, the shopper?
Anticipate delays, and possibly lengthy ones.
"If those incentives, those disadvantages are deep enough that people will provide themselves with a rationale to wait. The dilemma is that that wait extends beyond the normal flow of the holidays, is that now you can have some consumers complaining and consumer disgruntlement," Dr. Byus told us.
Byus says savings can be found both days; it just depends on your preference. Either dealing with crowds and standing in line, or dealing with limited bandwidth.
He further points out looming inflation and rising gas prices could be factors this year as well.
"The cost of the gasoline to get to the store to take advantage of the deep discounts, could very well erode some of that discount away."
Whatever you decide, remember; relax and enjoy the season.
