So how were Black Friday sales this year? That depends on who you listen to, and what story they want you to hear. If you look at the headlines today, you probably have no clue. Online shopping both gains and drops on the same day. Total sales were up 13% or down 8.6% on the same day. How? Well, for online shopping, the number of visitors to online websites decreased, but total dollars spent increased. In total, spending was up this year, but the average amount that the individual shopper spent decreased.
So what really matters? To everyone but the news media, the economic impact of Black Friday is in total dollars spent. Wal*Mart doesn’t care how many people visited their website last Friday. They care about how much money they made. Sears doesn’t care that Judy spent $50 less this year than last year, so long as their total revenues are up. So why are we inundated with news stories about statistics that don’t really matter? Because the news media sets their own agenda, despite their claims at impartiality. If they want the news to be good, they’ll spin it good. If they want it to be bad, they’ll spin it bad.
Keep that in mind next time you read a news story or catch a talking head on TV. You’re only hearing what they want you to hear.
ZarkSeven 