Black Friday Approaches With Plenty Of Deals And Plenty Of Leaks

Black Friday, that day that gets thousands to line up in the cold for a chance at scoring some deep discounts, is fast approaching and many deals have already been leaked. Should retailers be concerned about these leaked deals in the weeks leading up to Black Friday?

Black Friday is one busy shopping day, occurring on Nov. 23. Thousands of shoppers will line up early in the morning to get their hands on heavily. discounted items, from big ticket items like televisions to clothing. Usually those deals are announced right before the big day in order to keep consumers buying instead of holding off because they know in a few weeks there will be a better deal.

In fact, it's that mentality that has led Time to speculate on the number of leaks that are flooding the Internet nearly three weeks before Black Friday. There are countless sites a consumer can turn to for leaked Black Friday deals and Time mentions a leaked Kmart flyer which features a Black Friday deal on a 42-inch Plasma RCA television for $199. If consumers knew the deals like the Kmart deal ahead of time, chances are they'll stop buying in the weeks before Black Friday.

According to Time, there are 30 different Black Friday ads that have appeared on the Internet although some of them could be fake, early drafts that will be revised later or just a mock-up. While it would be difficult to stop the deluge, some retailers do take legal actions on websites that feature leaked Black Friday ads. USA Today notes that Ace Hardware and Walmart have sent out cease and desist orders to websites posting Black Friday ads.

If the legal route doesn't work, retailers can, and do, announce Black Friday deals ahead of time on their own sites. Time mentions that Walmart and Lowes have already announced their Black Friday deals. By taking control of Black Friday leaks, retailers can get customers in the door and eager to shop at their store and not the competition's.

While brick and mortar stores will be flooded, e-retailers are taking advantage of online shopping. Amazon is taking advantage of Black Friday excitement by posting daily deals leading up to the big day which promises to feature even more deals, better discounts and a larger variety of items. Newegg has announced a similar strategy, focusing on weekend deals leading up to Black Friday. Newegg is also banking on Cyber Monday, where many shoppers can go online to find deals and not have to worry about lining up, as well as Encore Tuesday which will feature additional deals.

In some ways, it seems like retailers have resigned themselves to Black Friday leaks and rather get bogged down trying to stop the leaks, retailers are becoming pro-active, trying to control information, get consumers engaged and create a sense of excitement for their, and not the competition's, Black Friday deals.