TAMPA, Fla. — Black Friday is undeniably the biggest shopping day of the year, but the days of midnight doorbuster deals are becoming a thing of the past.
For some dedicated shoppers, lining up or camping out for deals is an annual tradition, but most people are expected to shop online this year.
"The culture of Black Friday got a little out of hand," said Avery Ford.
If you talked to Ford five years ago, he'd say he was planning on being at the mall on Black Friday, but now he says he searches for savings online.
"The conversation is always lets check Amazon," Ford added.
He isn't the only one you won't see at the stores on Friday. Lindsay Knappenberger says her family uses online wish lists, which makes holiday shopping as easy as a few clicks.
"I think it's convenient for everybody because everybody can create wish lists and then tell me exactly what they want and then that takes out the guess work, so it makes it easy on everybody," Knappenberger said.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects more than 183 million people to shop online or in stores on Black Friday, a record-breaking number. However, the NRF believes there will be a similar divide as last year, when nearly 76 million people made it to the stores on Black Friday, compared to more than 90 million who shopped online.
"Folks are looking for those deals," said Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Tampa Jennifer Burton.
"The numbers that I've seen for this year is 26 percent of shoppers are planning on waiting in line for an hour or more sometime during that Black Friday day," Burton said.
In recent years, there has been a marked shift in when stores open. In the past, many big names would open their doors on Thanksgiving or at midnight on Black Friday. Now, more shops are opting to close on Thanksgiving and keep the focus on Black Friday.
As part of the changing shopping trend, more stores are also offering deals earlier, turning a day into a week of savings.
"It’s called Christmas Creep, and the Black Friday deals start much earlier year after year," Burton explained. "It’s true this year as well, especially with such a late Thanksgiving that retailers have felt a stronger need to trot out these deals at an earlier date."
In a push to get customers inside stores, places like Target and Best Buy are offering in-store exclusives.
Even that promise of a deal can't tempt everyone.
"I don't want to have to deal with bumping through people," Ford said.
