Black Friday Deals Could Lure Shoppers Back Online

In a year with plunging consumer confidence and investments gone sour, it's hard to know what to expect of Black Friday -- the day after Thanksgiving on which retailers offer steep discounts and American shoppers go bananas for deals.

Will we see the usual lines of deal-seekers outside shopping malls? Probably. But maybe in fewer numbers. People just aren't buying as much, and Newsweek even wondered this year if the American shopping mall might be dying.

Online shopping, too, has been hit hard and could use a boost from Black Friday deals:

For the first time since e-commerce took off, it's down this year. From Nov. 1 through 23, consumers spent $8.19 billion, according to comScore, via Bits. That's down 4% from the same time last year -- the first time that's happened.

But Black Friday Web sites -- and the deals on retailers' own sites -- may entice shoppers eschewing the traditional (and sometimes scary) Black Friday rush:

Consumers may be spending less than previous years, given the current economic crisis. Retailers are struggling, too, with news of Circuit City filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Best Buy lowering its holiday sales predictions. Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com, told PC Mag that the state of the economy has added a level of unpredictability: Consumers don't know if their gift cards will work three months later with all of these store closings, and retailers such as Kmart and Sears have had to be much more aggressive, offering pre-Black Friday sales in order to entice consumers to spend.

So what's a cash-strapped shopper to do in times like these? "Shop like a snob and wait for the deal you want," de Grandpre advises. That means you'll have to dig deep for the best prices. Thankfully, the Web can help with your search. There are tons of Web sites that aggregate Black Friday ads and deals for you.

See PC Magazine's top 10 Black Friday Sites