News Desk: Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. And, today is the Black Friday in the US.

 

On this day, many U.S. retailers open very early, often at 5 AM, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Because Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, the day after occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November.

 

This Friday is Black Friday. Well, we could probably call November as Black Friday month, since many of the retailers started their discounting efforts. There will be an incredible number of deals to be had.

 

The news media frequently refers to it as the busiest retail shopping day of the year, but this is not always accurate. While it has been one of the busiest days in terms of pedestrian traffic at shopping centers, in terms of actual sales volume.

 

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.

 

Up to 138 million people plan to shop in U.S. stores on Black Friday and the weekend, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation.

 

The federation says it's not clear what percentage of U.S. holiday shoppers visit stores on Black Friday, but shoppers reported spending about $41.2 billion over 2009's Black Friday weekend. The federation forecasts that in-store retail sales for 2010's entire months of November and December will be $447.1 billion.

 

With the Internet Age at its all-time peak, some shoppers choose to avoid Black Friday and instead opt for the new Cyber Monday shopping holiday.

 

Cyber Monday is the Monday following Thanksgiving in which retailers have low prices on their company websites that are traditionally available for purchase with free shipping charges.

 

Cyber Monday has become popular with retailers and shoppers alike due to the fact that there are no leaked ads to worry about for retailers, and there are no crowds to be concerned with for shoppers.

 

So enjoy shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday!!

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