[MarketWatch]
Despite predictions of consumer pushback against early Black Friday pandemonium, midnight openings appeared to have drawn even more than the customary hordes of bargain hunters, according to Consumer Electronics Daily’s annual check of shopping venues and interviews with dozens of patient shoppers.
Super bargains on conventional flat screen HDTV sets seemed to be at the top of most shopping lists, despite beliefs by some that the market is weakening and that consumers might be more interested in 3D and Internet-capable TVs, the publication found.
Close behind flat screens were sharply discounted electronic game systems, tablets and notebook computers. Those arriving too late for the limited number of “door-buster” bargains on those devices often settled for cut-price Blu-ray players. “Once you get by those categories … there weren’t huge deals across the board in lots of other product segments,” one analyst said.
Seasoned Black Friday shoppers reported having happily lined up all day Thanksgiving Day, some for as long as 31 hours, to have their crack at a handful of doorbuster electronics. The big draws at Best Buy were a $199 Sharp 42-inch LCD TV, followed closely by a Lenovo laptop for $179. There was also a $188 32-inch Emerson 720p LCD TV at Walmart.
Customers who had set their sights on heavily discounted large-screen 3D TVs were mostly out of luck, unlike previous years. What 3D and Internet TVs there were on the discount lists tended to be tucked away at the back of sales flyers. And most of the shoppers who waited in line appeared to be looking for “basic” products anyway.
Traffic at the stores appeared to be pretty similar to previous years on Black Friday, during reporters’ visits and according to retailers they talked to. And experience in handling the crowds appears to have eliminated most of the problems that appeared in some past years.
Consumer Electronics Daily is the nation’s leading source of news on the worldwide development, manufacturing, sales and marketing of consumer electronics products and services. It’s published by Warren Communications News Inc., a 66-year-old Washington, D.C.-based company that also publishes the award-winning Communications Daily, Washington Internet Daily and Green Electronics Daily.
Full articles and trial subscriptions to Consumer Electronics Daily are available at www.consumerelectronicsdaily.com or 202-872-9202.
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