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Online Shopping May Beat In-store Shopping This Year On Black Friday

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Black Friday Sale

Black Friday is next week and retailers are gearing up for a busy shopping season. An October survey from Deloitte found that online holiday shopping is expected to beat in-store sales for the first time; however, Louisiana State University Marketing Professor Dan Rice says brick and mortar stores can be still very profitable and retailers will do what they can to get shoppers into their stores.

Rice expects this year to be better for Louisiana retailers, especially in south Louisiana. Many consumers didn’t spend as much during the holidays, because they were recovering from the historic flooding.

Rice says big corporate stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy opened up some Black Friday deals at the end of October. But he says other retailers like REI or Ikea, have decided not to open on Thanksgiving to impress consumers with their family values and encourage them to shop during other times of the season.