The season to shop and buy in the U.S.

In the U.S., the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest day in retail- "Black Friday."

Yesterday a student asked whether “to shop” and “to buy” means the same thing. Though the two words are related, they generally have different meanings. Shopping is browsing, looking for something to buy, whether or not you actually find something. Buying is the actual transaction at checkout time, when you pay for the product.

People shop for various reasons and with different results. You may need or want some product, or you may just want to learn what is available for sale. “Window shopping” means just looking in the store windows, without going into the store. Window shopping is a way to pass time while waiting or simply looking around. Retailers try to make window displays as enticing as possible to lure people into or back to the store.

Window shoppers hardly ever actually purchase something unless they later return and actually enter the store. Depending on the kind of store, shoppers are more or less likely to buy something. For example, few people go shopping at the supermarket without buying anything. However, many people browse high end merchandise, like jewelry, without every buying anything.

In the U.S., shopping is dominated by women. In fact, women make most of the purchasing decisions in American families. In every mall, you can find helpless men following their wives or girlfriends around to carry the packages. When men shop buy themselves, they often simply enter the store, retrieve the products they want, and buy them, without looking at everything else in the store. Such behavior is so common that a lot of comedy is based on it.

But shopping and buying in the U.S. is no laughing matter. In fact, the U.S. economy, the largest in the world, is based on consumer spending. In the U.S., shopping and especially buying is now considered patriotic because it supports the economy. Right now, the problem is that most people don’t have enough money to buy enough products to support the economy. The few people that do have enough money already own second and third homes, private jets, and yachts. They don’t need to buy much. Only people without much need to buy a lot.

Next week is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, starting the holiday shopping season. Many retailers make all their profit between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so this season is a big deal economically. The total sales for the day is used to predict future economic results. Watch the news next Saturday. If total retail sales are at or above expectations, everyone will be happy. If sales fall short, that will be a bad sign. Like many things in the U.S. this is contrary to common sense. For example, if people buy less stuff during the holidays, they will have more to invest and save for the next year.

The biggest change in retailing recently is Internet shopping. The Internet makes shopping and buying so easy, you don’t even have to leave home or get dressed. Just ask Amazon, eBay, and all the other companies making money. Everyone knows that advertising creates most Internet profits, especially since TV, newspaper, and magazine ads are seen by fewer people each year. 

Alfred Sloan

There is nothing wrong with advertising itself, I suppose, but can’t seem to forget the words of Alfred Sloan. Some consider him the designer of the modern corporation because of how he managed General Motors for many years. The Sloan School of Business at MIT also is named in his honor. Modern corporations cannot exist without marketing. Sloan quickly adopted astute marketing techniques, such as offering a wider selection of options, and providing financing for buyers. The words I still recall? “The purpose of advertising is to make people dissatisfied with what they have.”

A few people reject the materialism and wastefulness of over-consumption. On the day after Thanksgiving, they celebrate “Buy Nothing Day.” Going to the store next Friday is a bad idea unless you love crowds and long lines. People say prices are very low on this day. Trust me. If you can wait about 6 weeks, until January, prices will be even lower.