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COVID-19 Turning Black Friday into ‘Cyber November’

Move over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, because our global pandemic is changing our new normal — again. In 2020, holiday shopping is more virtual than ever, with deals coming earlier in November.

While experts are predicting more online shopping than ever before between now and the end of the year, at the same time, the pandemic has driven more working from home and more cyberthreats in the public and private sectors.  

Black Friday and the Pandemic

Many companies are struggling with the question of how can they manage Black Friday during a pandemic. Here’s one answer from St. Bonaventure’s student-run newspaper:

“COVID-19 has challenged in-store retailers across the nation by making them enforce social distancing, mask wearing and other sanitization procedures. However, retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy and Target are still planning on implementing sales for the Black Friday season.

Black Friday, the term given to the Friday after Thanksgiving, has a history of attracting large crowds of people because of the extreme sales. According to the National Retail Federation, about 189.6 million people nationwide went shopping over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend last year, a 14 percent increase from 2018.

Although stores have been promoting people to shop Cyber Monday online sales, retailers are strategizing how to meet the needs of Black Friday crowds while meeting COVID-19 guidelines.”

Here is another perspective from the website MyTotalRetail.com entitled “Better vs. Bigger: Examining the Future of Black Friday“:

“Like many things in 2020, the holiday shopping season will be unlike any in recent memory. The COVID-19 pandemic has turned many of our social norms upside down and accelerated emerging trends, exacerbating weaknesses already evident in retail. With the bar now higher than ever before, retailers need a seamlessly integrated omnichannel offering just to (Read more...)