Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
I couldn't believe how empty my local Target was.
- Black Friday isn't as crazy of a shopping day as it once was.
- Black Friday's decline is in large part due to the rise of online shopping and heavy discounting year-round.
- When we visited Best Buy and Target, traditionally two of the biggest Black Friday destinations, the stores were close to empty.
Black Friday isn't the massive shopping event it once was.
One of the biggest factors in Black Friday's declining significance is the rise of online shopping. With so many deals available online, customers no longer have to wait out in long lines for stores to open.
"54 percent of US shoppers say they are more likely to shop online during Black Friday with the biggest reasons being convenience and simplicity," Ray Wimer, an assistant professor of
According to RetailNext, the number of people actually visiting stores on Black Friday declined 4.5% in 2017. Meanwhile, online sales on that day were up 16.9% versus the previous year, Adobe Analytics data showed.
The rise of online shopping has also allowed Black Friday to begin earlier. Online shopping on Thanksgiving surged this year, according to Adobe.
Constant discounting also may be to blame. This year, Prime Day forced competing retailers like Target, Macy's, and JCPenney to offer massive Black Friday-style sales in July, taking away from the excitement of holiday deals.
When I visited a Best Buy and a Target - traditionally two of the biggest Black Friday destinations - in Westchester, New York, I was surprised to find that the stores weren't busy at all. Besides all of the big signs, it seemed like any other weekend. Hardly anyone was waiting in line before stores opened, and the lines at the register didn't seem out of the ordinary.
Here's what it was like to shop at Best Buy and Target on Black Friday morning:
