New York – While Black Friday weekend sales figures don’t tell the whole story of the holiday season, the data culled from a three-day span of shopping does lend some insight into when, where and how consumers are spending their money.
In a story published last Wednesday on FiveThirtyEight.com, analyst Ben Silver’s website, economics writer Ben Casselman argued that the data that emerges about sales over Black Friday weekend is unreliable and that the weekend itself is no real indication of how much consumers are going to spend for the duration of the holiday season.
He also pointed out in his piece that shopping patterns have changed significantly in recent years, making consumer behavior harder to understand and, thereby, predict.
None of this should come as news to jewelers, who are well aware of the changing nature of retail and for whom Black Friday never has been the big make-it-or-break-it weekend anyway.
Jewelers have long told National Jeweler that the weekend after Thanksgiving is a time for consumers to hit up the big-box stores although some, including Northeastern Fine Jewelers and Lily & David Fine Jewelry in Saratoga, N.Y., have begun offering Black Friday deals in the past few years.
