Black Friday begins before the morning of Thanksgiving, creating chaos



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Black Friday is now officially starting on the Wednesday before and in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving. And this is not necessarily good news for retailers.

Buyers spent $ 2.4 billion online Wednesday, a huge increase of 31.8% over 2017, according to data from Adobe Analytics.

On Thursday morning, at 10 am, buyers had spent an additional $ 406 million online. At 5 pm, they had spent $ 1.75 billion, a 28.6% increase over the previous year.

The surge in sales represents an increase in online shopping more generally, as well as a "day" of black Friday sales that is moving earlier and earlier.

"The pre-Thanksgiving deals seem to have prompted consumers to spend a little earlier, while we attended our second $ 2 billion vacation shopping day," said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights.

However, not all retailers were fully prepared to increase purchases on Thanksgiving day and the day before.

The disadvantages of success

Black Friday is online.
Kena Betancur / Getty Images

Buyers on Walmart website had technical difficulties Wednesday night. GameStop the buyers he's complaining sure similar technical issues on social media. And, the Lululemon website crashed on Thursday, apparently under the traffic.

"We knew it would be a busy day and I guess technology escaped us this time," said Lululemon's account on Facebook. "I totally understand that it can be frustrating for someone to try to shop online, and I know we are doing everything possible to rectify the situation as quickly as possible."

According to Bob Buffone, technical director of web optimization software company Yottaa, business problems were probably due to the fact that they did not have the necessary infrastructure to handle the traffic.

"If you have not tested your site with traffic volumes five times higher than normal, your site will probably fail," Buffone told Business Insider on Thursday.

Not being properly prepared for Black Friday is even worse than having a blocked website another day of shopping.

"It's easy to go to another site and spend your vacation money elsewhere," Buffone said. "Depending on how long the site is used, it can be very expensive for retailers and also hurt the brand because customers are using social media to express their frustration."

In addition to technical problems, earlier purchases may mean that offers are selling earlier. Cluster bearers are inherently limited. But, the previous sales can also mean things sale outside earlier– This can lead to frustration for buyers accustomed to a more traditional shopping program on Black Friday.

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