All day long, I’ve been seeing stories where Occupy Wall Streeters from all over decided to participate in "Occupy Black Friday" in attempts to :
- dissuade consumers from making voluntary decisions to spend their money to get the most bang for the buck (which often means Big Box stores) and swear off consumerism ("“I think they’re a bunch of … crybabies,” said Collins, clutching her shopping bags as she watched the protesters march down Stockton Street. “I don’t begrudge them the right to do it, but I just don’t think they’ve really very smart.”…"). Mildly amusing.
- sit-ins at the stores or sit down and block traffic to further emphasis their anti-capitalism and anti-consumerism. Highly annoying, highly inconveniencing their target audience. Not persuasive.
- persuade employees to stop being "slaves to the 1%". Result: getting themselves arrested. Highly amusing!
So, were they effective? Well……
The holiday shopping season got off to a strong start on Black Friday, with retail sales up 7 percent over last year, according to ShopperTrak. Now stores just have to keep buyers coming back without the promise of door-buster savings.
Buyers spent $11.4 billion at retail stores and malls, up nearly $1 billion from last year. It was the biggest amount ever spent on the day and the biggest year-over-year increase since 2007.
ShopperTrak gathers data from 25,000 outlets across the U.S., including individual stores and shopping centers.
ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said buyers responded to price reductions. Sales were up several weeks before Black Friday as retailers began promotions even earlier than usual.
Sales up by a larger percentage than in recent years, eh? I guess they were as effective as the news of the crimes coming out of their encampments were to their message.
