If you ever complained about “year-end sales” starting right after Halloween, you’re in for a rude awakening.
The holiday season is starting earlier than ever this year. Home Depot, for instance, already made plans to roll out its Black Friday discounts in early November.
And now, in a Hail Mary effort to get a nation of procrastinators pumping out orders, a bunch of retailers have invented a new shopping day: Oct. 10.
You can’t be serious
Try to imagine a version of Black Friday that follows social distancing rules, and you’ll see the dilemma retailers are facing:
- On one hand: They can’t pack their stores with customers.
- On the other: The postal system can’t handle all of America buying gifts online in mid-December.
This year’s orders need to come in slowly — and way in advance.
Why Oct. 10th?
Bloomberg explained that the “holiday” (10/10) is supposed to mirror Singles Day, the massive Nov. 11 (11/11) shopping day in China.
But the actual details are still shrouded in secrecy. Over 24 big businesses have signed on, though their names aren’t public yet.
And even if you plan to stick to the internet for this year’s holiday sales, expect a much earlier than usual timeline: Amazon postponed its massive Prime Day to the fall — and it’s been telling sellers to treat October 5 as the place-holder date.
