UPDATE: Moving Black Friday to Thanksgiving could make some retailers… late to the party

Observation:  Much has been written in recent weeks about the retailers who plan to open and offer their “Black Friday” specials a day early, on Thanksgiving Day.  There’s been a bit of pushback for companies who will ask their employees to sacrifice a family holiday for the chance to help the company rack-up a few more holiday dollars (click here for a sample posting on the topic).

Well, today’s Marketing Daily suggests that more than half of us have started shopping already.  Click here to see the story, which is based on data from BIGResearch that was done for the National Retail Federation.

Implications:    With consumers sticking to their methodical ways when it comes to spending, it only makes sense that they’d try to avoid cramming so much expense into a few short weeks of holiday shopping.  The earlier start to the season helps consumers spread-out the cost of the holidays… and use less credit along the way.  Think of it as a Do-It-Yourself layaway plan that the consumer is using to make gift giving more manageable.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.