Black Friday is finally here, and an early snapshot of Vancouver suggests things are quiet and no one cares, at least not when it comes to in-person shopping.
When we think of Black Friday, we’re used to seeing videos of extensive lineups and people stampeding in through the doors of Walmart, in the US, anyway.
On this Black Friday, things are civil and almost eerily quiet in and around Metro Vancouver.
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Traffic in downtown Vancouver was moving smoothly this morning, and there were no lineups to be seen, even though shoppers had been warned of possible traffic jams.
Even over at Metropolis at Metrotown, things were quiet. It’s still the weekday, so most people are likely working from home or in the office, and things could get a little busier over the weekend, especially since Black Friday deals tend to be ongoing. Then Cyber Monday is the last chance to cash in on discounts until late December.
Moneris, a Canadian financial tech company, says that predictive data shows Cyber Monday is the busiest shopping day when looking at online spending. As a result, Moneris indicates that the deals around this time of year serve as a way for Canadian shoppers to get a head start on holiday shopping.
While there were plenty of signs to entice customers, the customers were nowhere to be seen.
The busiest place in Pacific Centre Mall was probably the Apple Store, but when is an Apple Store not busy?
Even Nordstrom, sporting some significant deals, had little foot traffic.
The commute on SkyTrain was also relatively quiet this morning.
Even in some parts of the states, Black Friday has seemingly stalled, which according to CBS News, has led some analysts to suggest the hype around Black Friday is dying.
About a dozen people are staking out the Best Buy in South Philly for Black Friday. Some got here as early as 3am! Weāre talking to shoppers all morning on @CBSPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/iZlsQzuAgn
ā Ross DiMattei CBS-3 (@RossDiMattei) November 25, 2022
That analysis says it’s a matter of convenience and that people are less willing to go to stores to duke it out with fellow consumers like Jingle All The Way. Of course, it helps that deals last for several weeks, meaning people don’t need to funnel into stores all in one day.
Are you planning on doing any shopping in person this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
Update:
As of Friday afternoon, it looks like things have finally picked up at Pacific Centre Mall.
ā The Network Hub (@thenetworkhub) November 25, 2022