Black Friday security plans aim to keep sales from becoming real doorbusters
Filed under: Company News, Economy, Wal-Mart Stores
Retailers have been saying all year that they want to bring back customers' enthusiasm for shopping, but there are limits. This year, they want to control the mayhem on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving is always a busy one at the nation's stores, and retailers do their best to stir things up and get the holiday shopping season off to a good start. But as the sales have escalated, so has the in-store violence. The last few years have seen some alarming incidents in which shoppers took the term "doorbuster special" much too literally.
Reports of injuries and brawls in the aisles are now a standard part of Black Friday news reports. The violence reached its peak last year, when a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by customers, who continued to shop while emergency personnel struggled to save him. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) paid $1.2 million and agreed to implement new security measures to avoid criminal charges for not having enough crowd-control staff on hand.
This year, Wal-Mart has issued new rules and procedures for handling Black Friday sales to avoid a repeat of that incident. According to The New York Times, Wal-Mart hired experts who've planned for Olympic-sized crowds. Their plan includes keeping stores open 24 hours to avoid the crowd buildup at dawn, and letting shoppers line up for specific specials before they go on sale in order to avoid the shopper scramble that led to last year's stampede.
Strongest Crowd-Control Device: The Economy
Wal-Mart is not alone. The National Retail Federation just issued a report in advance of Black Friday with 13 pages of crowd-control guidelines. The trade group worked with retailers and law-enforcement officers to develop the guidelines, said Rhett Ascher, NRF's vice president of loss prevention.
"Many retailers have robust plans in place to deal with these events, but each year brings new learning and sometimes an unexpected situation or two," said Ascher.
Some of the report's suggestions are no-brainers, such as hiring additional security. Others include placing barriers outside the store to manage traffic flow and avoid door rushes like the one that killed the Wal-Mart employee; giving shoppers tickets or wristbands for the most-popular specials; and spreading the doorbusters around the floor to disperse crowds throughout the store.
Ironically, it could be the economy that provides the best crowd control this year. Retailers have tried to get holiday shopping started early with early holiday sales -- as early as October -- with limited success. There are no hot products to spur store traffic, no equivalents of Tickle Me Elmo or a new iPod. And shoppers have lost a lot of their appetite for big-ticket items like the flat-screen TVs that caused so much door-rushing last year.
A Glimmer of Hope for Black Friday
This season's selection is expected to be sparser than last year and the discounts less steep -- or at least that's what the merchants hope. After struggling to unload huge quantities of merchandise for a song last holiday season, retailers spent this year cutting back their inventories to reduce their losses.
On the other hand, as the NRF report noted, retailers started planning for Black Friday two to three months ago, when retail's prospects were much dimmer, so they may have to revise their plans to handle slightly larger crowds than they had expected. A recent report from the International Council of Shopping Centers said 16% of consumers plan to start their holiday shopping on Black Friday, compared to 10% in the last two years.
Shopping is becoming concentrated in bursts with lulls in between, said Michelle Tan, global investment research analyst at Goldman Sachs, which co-authored the report. ICSC chief economist Michael Niemiera said bargain-hunting is a very important factor in that holiday shopping behavior.
So the holiday balancing act will continue. Shop safely.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-11-2009 @ 1:21PM
RAS said...
I do not think I was ever more disgusted when this incident happened. It is sickening to see how greedy and marterialistic our society is for some overpriced junk from China. Every filthy animal who stampeded that day and continued to shop while that man laid dying on the floor should be lined up against a wall and shot. America has allowed the retail industry to play on the greed and stupidity of the general public and ruined this holiday.
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11-11-2009 @ 1:28PM
RAS said...
This had to be one of the most disgusting events I have ever seen. It is sickening to see how greedy and materialistic our society has become for overpriced junk. Every filthy animal who stampeded that day and continued to shop while a man laid dying on the floor should have been rounded up, lined up against a wall, and shot. America has allowed the retail industry to ruin this holiday and brainwash the general public.
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11-11-2009 @ 1:29PM
Paul Del said...
It makes one wonder why the prices deflated so much after the economy tanked, Retailers benefit by making products that people can afford, supply and demand, demand goes up when prices fall, your money buys more, that is great for the economy, to many companies over priced their products, so now they are offering great buys, that is the way it should be, good times are ahead of us, it took a long time for the economy to get into this downfall, will we ever learn, affordable prices draw people into Retail stores period.........................................
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11-11-2009 @ 1:32PM
Chris said...
Doesn't matter what preventitives measures they take...people will still act like animals in search of that all-mighty so called "bargain". God help who-ever gets in their way.
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11-11-2009 @ 1:48PM
Ralph said...
It is just amazing to me that the "quote" holiday season starts off with an event called "Black Friday"
it reminds me of the middle ages and the "Black Plaque"
Lets restore some faith to Xmas by boycotting
black friday. All this emphasis on this day turns my stomach. Why can't we make this day a celebration of
life and instead of buying all this junk made in china with toxic parts and paint DO SOMETHING for you fellow
human. Buy someone dinner so they don't go hungry
Buy someone a coat so they aren't cold
Paysomeones electric bill so they don't freeze
Just do something good
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11-11-2009 @ 1:57PM
kathy said...
What retailers need to do is make sure they have more than 2 or 3 of a sales item. That causes all of the problems from people fighting, unruly crowds, and stampeding. Also shame on you folks who go and buy the door buster sales to only put them on Ebay that afternoon at inflated prices, you wreck some folk's ability to even get that item for christmas.
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11-14-2009 @ 8:25PM
rich said...
you are so right people are happy leaving when they get a bargin ,but when retailers make it competative to get the bargin then theres trouble if there going to advatise a bargin then they should be prepared to give it to everyone in an organized fashion.not chaos
11-11-2009 @ 3:01PM
Patsy said...
too bad. We go to walmart on black friday to shop, not to save lives. If the guy stayed the hell out of our way, he'd be alive today.
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11-11-2009 @ 3:26PM
David S. said...
Patsy -- words such as inhuman and selfish don't begin to describe someone like you, but they are a pretty good start.
11-11-2009 @ 4:01PM
Paul Del said...
Patsy, to bad you have no compassion for other people, they seem to be blamed for your failures, you need help!, today is veterans day, it honors all those who gave their lives for you, a lot of them are in the street through no fault of their own, people should help as much as possible, that is the American Way Period, we are in bad times, your lucky to shop at Walmart, think of the other person losing their home, that is sad
11-11-2009 @ 8:13PM
Gina said...
People like you are the problem with our world today.
11-11-2009 @ 8:30PM
urworstnightmare said...
shut the hell up patsy. maybe it should've been you that died instead of him. People need to be more careful instead of acting like barbarians and trampling people. Why shoud someone have to die just because there's a sale. If that was your son that died, you wouldnt be saying that. So shut up and get a life you uncivilized cheap skate.
11-12-2009 @ 2:39PM
Bart_N_KCMO said...
It is morons like you who deserve a jack boot with steal toes to the head.
11-11-2009 @ 4:47PM
Rob said...
Do not reply to Patsy. He/She/It just wants to get some attention. Slow day at the trailer park I guess
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11-11-2009 @ 4:50PM
lkamer56 said...
Patsy HE WAS UNLOCKING THE DOORS>>>the idiots shoved the doors open knocking him down>>>HE COULDN'T GET OUT OF THE WAY .Toysrus locally did the best job I've seen. They had in front of the srore roped off with employees standing in front of the rope handing out stock receipts to pick up the most requested items.When they were gone they were sold out of that item.Anyone caught trying ro jump line was escorted to the back of the line.Was inand out of store in 1/2 hour.GREAT JOB
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11-11-2009 @ 6:17PM
Razorback1430 said...
It doesnt matter, to the greedy they will do whatever they want and if they happen to kill someone I am sure it will be the retailers fault and not theirs... You have no idea how bad this freaking kills me that a retailer had to pay out to a family because of what freaking selfish b@stards did... freaking waste of human lives they are.. You only get one shot thats it thats what people dont seem to understand.. one shot thats it and this is how they act... that person that is dead doesnt get another shot at this world... freaking morons everybody
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11-11-2009 @ 6:37PM
MyKisa said...
....it was nearly as bad in the early 60s at May Cohen
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11-11-2009 @ 6:55PM
Ann said...
I agree with # 4 people go out and help the needy , too many people are losing their Homes and Jobs. Our health is more importand than trying to save a $$$ on merchandise. Do something healthy for a family buy some walking shoes and a meal deliver it , spend time with the elderly , reading to children etc...........
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11-11-2009 @ 7:35PM
lisa said...
we have to remenber the real meaning of christmas.i,ve seen how people act on black friday and it's scary.......material things will never replace a human life.
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11-11-2009 @ 8:57PM
Ray said...
Why do you people keep blaming retailers? There's obviously enough people that use this day as an opportunity to get great buys on certain items. Over the years, i've used this day to buy many items for the first time. dvd players, digital cameras, flat screen tv's, second tv for the house... There's probably hard numbers out there but i have a guess that last year's black friday specials gave the "navigation systems" products a big boost in market shares, the same way dvd players got their big jump in market shares due to black friday specials a few years back.
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