ESTERO, Fla. — It’s almost time for Black Friday but the deals this year are going to look a little different.
Piyush Shah is a global supply chain expert and teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University in a department that focuses on supply chain management.
“You have this two or three days of frenzy, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, these massive lines, massive online purchases... they're helping nobody," he said.
Shah says that's the Black Friday of the past, where people would wake up at 3 or 4 A.M. and drive to the mall. Now companies are making a switch.
“Yes you sell a lot of products, maybe close to a billion dollars in this month, but the cost of selling that is very high and they’re not making enough money," Shah said.
One of the changes you'll see on your holiday deals, is the dwindling discount. In 2020 the average Black Friday sale was 36 % off, down to 34 % in 2021, and last year 30%.
Another is extending the discount period.
"Now you don't just have two days of frenzy. The sales start relatively early, maybe even a week or 10 days early in some situations and go on past Cyber Monday also," Shah said.
It's a higher cost of shipping while the post office is strained trying to mail out everyone's orders. Stores bringing on seasonal workers is another expense, all to not make much profit while working to create revenue.
