In the U.S, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving that many people view as the biggest shopping day of the year, whether it’s online or in-person. Due to the discounts and deals in stores, many people use Black Friday to shop for the holiday season.
According to Capital One Shopping, Americans spend almost $10 billion dollars shopping online on Black Friday. 130 million Americans specifically bought online holiday gifts on Black Friday of 2022. In recent years, many people have taken to online shopping instead of waiting at long lines in actual stores for their purchases. Sophomore Juliana Pericaz believes that online shopping is more convenient for her.
“I think people don’t do in person shopping as much anymore because everything has transferred more online. I feel like online shopping is also faster. But then there’s also the race of who’s going to get it first,” said Pericaz.
Shopping online does have its perks such as not having to wake up as early, rushing to go from store to store and not having to fight with people for items on the shelf. Junior Delilah Rajphoumy feels that people shop online more because it is easier.
“It’s not a holiday I care for but, it’s more something that a lot of people do online just because it’s cheaper, especially with inflation,” Rajphoumy said.
Along with online shopping being convenient for people, it also limits the dangerous possibility of someone getting injured while shopping in stores. The major cause of injury while shopping is trampling by large crowds. Junior Kevin Locks considers shopping online being safer than in person.
“Online shopping is just more convenient. But it always sucks that you can’t just get it right away, versus in person you can just go and grab it. But, there is that safety hazard again with people taking everything off the shelves compared to just sitting on your bed at home,” Locks said.
Sometimes shoppers camp out in parking lots and sidewalks, waiting for the stores to open on Black Friday early morning. Once the time approaches for the store to open, overcrowding and large crowds may try and push to be as close to the open doors as possible. This can then lead to injuries and an unsafe environment. Locks remembers when he saw many people camping out and thought it was unsafe.
“Some people are intense. Last year I saw people sitting up outside of Best Buy, with their camping stuff trying to get like the new iPad or a new iPhone. I thought it’s a safety hazard with those people outside,” Locks said.
Many stores offer Black Friday deals such as Target, Amazon, and Best Buy. Target and many other stores have already put out advertisements for Black Friday deals. However, some stores have not been limiting their deals for just that one day. Lieutenant Colonel Berry has participated in Black Friday for years, and plans out her shopping beforehand.
“It can sometimes be dangerous, in store shopping. It just depends on that ‘must have’ item. When I went Black Friday shopping I had stores that I wanted to go to,” Berry said. “I used to get up at like 2 o’clock in the morning, and plan out what stores I wanted to go to.”
