Black Friday is dead - and that's incredible news for bargain shoppers
- More than half of people say that they're less likely to shop on Black Friday this year.
- One major reason for the decline in Black Friday shopping is that retailers have begun offering deals year-round to compete in the retail apocalypse.
- Last year, three million fewer people shopped in stores on Thanksgiving weekend compared to 2015 - and experts say that number will drop again this year.
Black Friday is no longer the bargain shopping bacchanal that it once was.
More than half of respondents (52%) said that they're less likely to shop on Black Friday this year than in years past, according to Accenture's annual Holiday Shopping Survey. Half of respondents also said that they were less likely to shop on Thanksgiving, and 42% said they were less likely to shop on Cyber Monday.
One of the most popular reasons for skipping Black Friday is simply that bargain shopping has become a year-round event.
According to the survey, 44% of respondents said that they're less inclined to shop on Black Friday because they can get equally good discounts on other days. And, 64% said that they shop for holiday gifts throughout the year.
"The whole idea of Black Friday and Cyber Monday ... is becoming less relevant as the consumer is generally accustomed to great deals, or at least getting a deal," Josh Elman, a consumer and retail analyst with Nasdaq Advisory Services, told Business Insider.
Retailers like Macy's and Nordstrom have been forced to begin offering deals all year round to compete with e-commerce rivals like Amazon, and to meet customers' expectations for never-ending discounts.
It's been a blow to many retailers' bottom lines - but, in the midst of the retail apocalypse, it has become a necessary measure to survive.
According to National Retail Federation data, 99 million people said they shopped in stores on Thanksgiving weekend last year - a drop of three million from the year before. Elman says that number is only going to drop further this year.