Since we've been having all this trouble with the economy, and with all the companies announcing layoffs and the like, in addition to crossing my fingers, I have been curious about how all of this would impact the holidays. One thing I like about Alexa's historical traffic data is that I can compare this year's traffic to last year's traffic to certain sites.
One type of site that really applies here are those leaking Black Friday ads. Because Black Friday is traditionally seen as the beginning of the holiday shopping season, these sites can show some interesting comparisons year over year. The most popular of which I am aware are blackfriday.info and bfads.net, and shoplocal.com.
The traffic to all three of these sites was greater last year than this year. Does this mean that fewer people were searching for bargains this holiday season? Not likely, given the stories of extreme shopping such as the unfortunate trampling death of a worker at a chain store that morning. What seems more likely is that there are fewer who are able to shop at all. Whatever the reason, it might be wise to brace yourselves for hand-made sweaters and scarves from your relatives this holiday season.
