Black Friday and the accompanying holiday hysteria have launched another season of Christmas sales in America. “At such times I am ashamed to be an American,” says one reporter, commenting on the crowds stampeding into Wal-Mart in search of discounts. Shopping mania in the form that is has developed in America remains something rather exotic for Russia. At the same time, many Russians, and the children of immigrants in particular, take playfully part in this short but demanding sprint for new items, and they do so with pleasure.
The remains of the turkey peak out from the pile of fragrant apples and celery. Cranberry sauce stains on the tablecloth provide a comforting reminder of yesterday’s feast… But we haven’t time for cleaning up.
I sit in the corner with my computer and continually check in on Amazon: “One hour and 34 minutes until the Black Friday Sale!” Oh how to spend the next hour and a half? Instead of doing something useful my hands are drawn back to the computer, and my eyes scan over a list of some very good deals…
And suddenly my mind switches into another mode and I recall how my grandmother’s friend, the wife of a prisoner who was stripped of the right to correspond for 10 years, told a story about how she had happened to be in the Bolshoi Theater when Stalin gave a speech: “When he finished speaking we began to clap… and I fell into some sort of short euphoric trance. I don’t remember anything, but when everything ended I was surprised to discover that I had beaten my hands bloody...”
The phenomenon of mass public frenzy appeared several millennia ago when people made sacrifices to and glorified the gods, who provided for their physical needs. In the modern world sacrifices and glorification are not so much a question of survival but rather one of psychological need. Shopping mania, regardless of how expressed, induces euphoria – short lived but joyous nonetheless.
In search of what sort of advantage do Americans, who only a short time ago sat satiated around the table with their families thanking their country for all things good, leap out of bed at 5:00 am and flock to the megamalls? Do they really thing that they will manage to acquire something special for dirt cheap? What kind of benefit do we expect and how much time can we spend on this inner weakness that manifests itself as a mass frenzy?
Psychologists, of course, have answers for this. In short, people seek something they need – be it a ‘spiritual’ cleansing (by making penance with one’s health and time) or cleaning out one’s wallet of extra paper in favor of the largest corporations, which give about 0.001% of the proceeds to Chinese child laborers, who are slaving away at the factories of Armani Exchange or Gap.
Shopping lovers, as it turns out, are largely normal people. What’s wrong with the fact that they want to save? However, during the biggest sales – on Black Friday and then the subsequent post-Christmas sales – some shopaholics take it to another level. Television channels across America showed videos about how the first customers bust into the stores. We see a raucous crowd standing next to the Wal-Mart store still closed behind a metal gate. The gate slowly begins to retract upward… and people begin crawling underneath and run like lunatics into the store. “A big fight was ignited by bath towels going for $1.88,” one reporter explains. At the same time we here from several states that buyers sprayed tear gas on their fellow shoppers in order to get to their desired item in time. Somewhere behind the camera we here a voice saying, “At times like these I am embarrassed to be an American.”
Prices at Wal-Mart are always low, and on ordinary days you can get these towels for $4.99… although I never buy such products due to their low quality. “What’s the point if later you are going to spend several years drying off with this uncomfortable and stiff towel that doesn’t soak anything up?” asks my friend Lily from Boston. “I would rather go to Bed Bath and Beyond and by a good one for $11.99! That;s when it’s for sale, otherwise it costs $29.99.”
Lines appear outside high-class stores on Black Friday and the following weekend, but the crowd is less aggressive. The reason is simple – these people are of a slightly higher social class, and even if they are not very affluent they would prefer not to run around in search of sales, particularly where home and hygienic supplies are concerned.
“Things like towels can be purchased without trying them on – one just needs to read about them on the Internet. But I don’t understand why someone would want to get up at 5:00 in the morning and then haul all that stuff around,” says Lily, shrugging her shoulders. She, like most of my friends in America, buys almost everything online, and stores often organize discount days for their online stores as well. And if you don’t like the product, you can return it by mail. Unlike in Russia, they never demand to see you passport and require half an hour to fill out forms – they simply send a note of apology for the inconvenience and in no longer than a week’s time you see the money returned to your bank account.
For many Russians, America is skyscrapers and shopping. It was the later that really attracted my acquaintance Alexander, who traveled to New York for the autumn sales. “They say its best to visit the stores ahead of time to try things on before the sale, and come and buy them [during the sale],” he said with certainty. My recommendations to buy online were rejected, as Alexander said logically that he doubted he would be able to return everything that he bought and he was not sure that his bankcard would be accepted online. “It’s more reliable to do everything yourself,” he said. Alexander spent Thanksgiving at some friends’ place in New Jersey and was hoping that the next morning they would take him to the nearby Woodbury mall, where he could peruse the outlet stores of Ralph Lauren, Nautica, Abercrombie & Fitch, and others. However, his host disrupted his plans, saying that she would not brave the crowds, and if he wanted he could go by bus.
This slight of hospitality did not dissuade Alexander, and he found his own way. “I experience culture shock, to be honest,” he told me. “Of course I didn’t manage to buy 7 For All Mankind jeans for $49.99, as by the time I got there only miniscule sizes remained, but I did gt some Levis for $29.99, which I am happy about. I didn’t bother telling Alexander that Levis can be purchased quietly and calmly during ordinary sales for $35 on 14th Street in Manhattan…
Alexander’s position is quite understandable, but why engage in this during a period in which a wave of rather well off Americans hit the stores? Twenty-five-year-old advertising agent Kevin was born in America, and his Russian parents are not at all concerned about shopping, as they make their purchases on an as needed basis. Their son however is hooked on shopping. As he said during our last discussion: “In our times no one dies passes away without having an extra pair of boots, but as it turns out you always need something to improve your mood. Like some sort of energy boost. Seratonin is a complicated thing. My health can’t handle drugs, so I buy a new piece of clothing – and then I’m in a great mood for the next three days!”
Kevin, of course, does not go the enormous stores like Macy’s or Century 21 – it’s beneath him shuffle around in line with tourists. However, he often surfs fashionable sites with designer collections such as gilt.com and ssense.com, where the sales selection is much larger on Black Friday and one can buy black boots from Marc Jackobs for a modest $609 and a pullover from John Varvatos would only set you back some $210.
In 2011 Internet sales on Black Friday (November 25) hit $816 million, up 26% from the previous year according to Reuters. Amazon should the greatest success, beating last year’s result by 50%. The number of internet buyers on this day also increased 35% to approximately 50 million people.
Analysts Andrew Lipsman of ComScore predicted that online sales on the following Monday, now dubbed Cyber Monday, will exceed $1.2 billion. This phenomenon, which experts call ‘couch commerce’, is appealing to an every wider section of the population who have no desire to risk being doused with tear gas in a fight over discounted socks.
At the same time, there is a down side to this: it is much easier to spend one’s money over the Internet, and US banks facing an uncertain economic situation might no longer be willing to offer credit to consumers who might never return the money.
Anna Genova
