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Kristel, I don’t think the issue is with CyberMonday over taking Black Friday, I think that businesses are having deals for too long of a period, which eventually takes money from companies. They also should not offer free shipping on items that are already discounted. Companies Doug this are just asking to lose money. Consumers are happy enough for discounted prices, they would be willing to pay the shipping, so why decrease or eliminate it completely?

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Kennedy, I disagree completely with your statement “Black Friday will stick around maybe for 5 more years...” Black Friday shopping may be losing popularity, however it is very popular for parents and grandparents that are not as tech-savvy as the newer generations. Also, Gen Z and Millennials look forward to shopping on Black Friday with friends and family, and the tradition of it is often passed down from parents to children.

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Jaidyn, I agree that CyberMonday will eventually take over, however Black Friday sales that last longer than one day are important. I agree that the window for Black Friday shopping should be limited to “force” consumers to get out and buy, but some people have obligations which do not allow for them to make it shopping on the Friday after thanksgiving.

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Kennedy I agree. I have noticed the "sales" getting worse and worse each year. Why bother calling them Black Friday deals if we see better ones after Christmas? Black Friday is definitely no longer in its prime, especially with the creation of cyber Monday. I think that eventually, Black Friday won't be a thing anymore.

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Jaidyn I agree with you. Though I enjoy Black Friday shopping because it helps me get some deals for Christmas presents, I have notice do a decline over the years in the number of people who attend. I think it's very sad yet understandable that people prefer cyber Monday over Black Friday. As technology advances so do the rates of online shoppers. I wonder if Black Friday will ever end as a result of this decline. I predict it will not but fewer and fewer stores will try it. What do you guys think

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Retailers' strategy to entice consumers to open their wallets on Black Friday and Cyber Monday worked again this year, but it may come back to bite them.

About 65% of purchases between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday were driven by sales and promotions, up from 61% last year and the highest percentage on record, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Retailers have promoted Black Friday deals earlier and longer than ever and have increasingly rolled out similar promotions at other times of the year (on Amazon's Prime Day, for instance). That has trained consumers to expect a bargain when they buy: 92% of shoppers said they think deals will continue throughout the holiday season, the NRF said in a media conference call Tuesday afternoon.

The constant promotion-driven pitch appears to have chipped away at the urgency to shop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday and to have taken some sheen off the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. While a whopping 165 million consumers shopped during the five-day period, that figure was actually down from 174 million last year. Average spending during the period also declined 6.6%, to $313.29.

With many deals to be had, the period is increasingly about shopping for yourself, not others: Self-gifting was up 13%, according to the NRF. Among Gen Z shoppers and millennials in the 18-24 age group, a record 44% said they bought for themselves. The self-gifting percentage among total consumers reached a record 31%.

Major retailers cut prices by an average of 47.9% on Black Friday, up from 45.2% last year, according to a Black Friday circulars study by Numerator of over 10,500 promotions from 17 retailers including Staples, Target and JC Penney. Office Depot, for instance, offered an average discount of 47.3% off, compared with 36.5% last year. At Staples, it was 42.5% versus 37.4% last year. Target's prices were off an average of 40%, compared with 36.6% last year, according to the study.

Large sale signs were observed in many store windows over the Black Friday holiday weekend. For instance, Ann Taylor and J. Crew both advertised 50%-off storewide loud and clear.

While the NRF said it's optimistic about the consumer spending outlook and now expects holiday sales to rise around 4.8%, at the top end of its previous forecast range, the initial holiday data suggests retailers still have a lot of heavy lifting to do. Even though it's common for retailers to budget planned promotions to entice shoppers - the thinking is thatit's better to lure consumers with some discounts than end up being stuck with unsold merchandise, where the price needs to be slashed to the point that there's no profit - more consumers buying goods on sale still means fewer full-price sales and less profit to be had. It also further reinforces the notion for many consumers not to buy without a sale.

It remains to be seen whether discounts need to be deepened to clear out any excess inventory if demand falters, especially when some studies have pointed to department stores' and some other retailers' stock growing at a faster pace than their sales growth.

As the industry continues to see record online sales, retailers are bracing for increased delivery and other fulfillment costs.

A case in point: The No. 1 online seller, Amazon, which already saw its Q3 shipping cost about double its operating income, is offering free shipping on all orders this holiday season in the U.S. It said Tuesday that Cyber Monday again had hit a new record and had become the single biggest shopping day in the company's history as the five-shopping-day period through Monday broke records with U.S. consumers buying millions more products compared with last year. "Customers love shopping for deals to kick off the holiday shopping season," Jeff Wilke, Amazon's CEO Worldwide Consumer, said in a statement.

The same goes for the overall U.S. retail sector. Online spending on Cyber Monday, after the record Black Friday and holiday weekend sales, hit a record $7.9 billion, making it the largest shopping day in U.S. history, according to Adobe Analytics. It was also the first Cyber Monday when mobile traffic was more than half of online shopping traffic.
Related on Forbes: Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales hit another record, but it's not time to celebrate yet Related on Forbes: Victoria's Secret, facing a slide in sales and profit, needs a new brand pitch fast

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Why Record Holiday Sales May Actually Signal Trouble For Retailers

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Retailers' strategy to entice consumers to open their wallets on Black Friday and Cyber Monday worked again this year, but it may come back to bite them. About 65% of purchases between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday were driven by sales and promotions, up from 61% last year and the highest percentage on record, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.