Trae Bodge, a smart shopping expert, joins TheStreet to explain the major difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
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00:00So, in today's digital age, is there much of a difference between the deals we see on
00:07Black Friday versus Cyber Monday?
00:10This is such a good question.
00:11So here's how I look at Black Friday versus Cyber Monday.
00:15So Black Friday started out as an in-store only day.
00:18It's obviously an online day as well, but the way I look at it is that the deals on
00:24Black Friday tend to be more specific, a bit more narrow.
00:28Maybe it's one kind of TV, for example.
00:31On Cyber Monday, the deals tend to broaden, so you may see multiple deals across one brand
00:37of TV.
00:38So you have a little bit more option, a little more choice as well.
00:43And so, you know, you have some flexibility on Cyber Monday.
00:46And then the other thing about Cyber Monday, if a retailer happens to have some flexibility,
00:52if they don't have a great Black Friday, they could perhaps increase those discounts for
00:57Cyber Monday.
00:58So sometimes the deals tend to be a little bit better on Cyber Monday.
01:04That was my next question, because in this whole entire season, looking past Cyber Monday
01:09and Black Friday, where do you expect the biggest and best deals when you take a look
01:14at online versus in-store?
01:17And I'm curious as to know, which is leading which?
01:20Are the deals leading the consumer where to shop, or is the consumer leading the retailer
01:27where to put the best deals?
01:29So I think it's a little bit of both.
01:31You know, retailers have these plans that they've had in place for many months.
01:36This is part of their big season.
01:38And so in that way, the retailer is guiding things.
01:41But some retailers, especially smaller retailers, can pivot a little bit on Cyber Monday and
01:47offer that deeper discount.
01:49Now, in terms of retailers who sell both online and in-store, we tend to see that those deals
01:56are comparable across the board.
01:58Retailers are trying to create what they call an omni-channel experience for the consumer,
02:02so you can shop in whatever way you want.
02:05I would say one thing about Black Friday, though, is because you often see these very
02:09quick lightning deals or doorbuster deals that come and go.
02:15The inventory is fairly low.
02:17So I think you can do better on Black Friday if you are in-store to snap up that item before
02:22someone else.
02:24And so that, to me, would be the difference.
02:26But really, if you don't like those crowds, you could certainly just kick back in your
02:30PJs and shop online.
02:32Now, sticking with this idea between online and in-store, this year there are fewer shopping
02:40days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
02:42So how does that impact one's shopping strategy or decision whether to buy online or to get
02:48up off the couch and go into the store?
02:52Yeah, and to your point, we have fewer shopping days.
02:55And so what I expect is that Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be very strong because
02:59people don't have as much time to shop.
03:02But thankfully, it is easy to get many items quite quickly.
03:07If you're shopping on a site like Amazon, for example, they ship very quickly in a couple
03:11of days.
03:12And then there are services like Instacart, for example.
03:15You can kick back in your PJs and send an Instagram shopper out there to do your shopping
03:20and have those items delivered the same day.
03:23And Instacart has a really cool feature called the Express Pass, which means that the minimums
03:29for getting free shipping and same-day shipping are much lower during the holiday shopping
03:34season.
03:35So that's another option.
03:37If you don't want to go into the stores, you can send a shopper, an Instacart shopper in
03:41there for you.