It is mid-October. Temperatures are dropping, leaves are beginning to fall, pumpkin-spice lattes are being served up, and retailers have kicked into high-gear, eager to deploy their Black Friday master plans.

In the past, Black Friday season consisted of Thanksgiving week. Some ads & promotions would be in the Sunday paper and many more would come out on Thanksgiving day. Sales would happen all Friday and possibly spill into Saturday or Sunday. Things have changed the past couple of years.

Starting last year, we saw some “leaks” in October, plus deep discount pricing competitions between Walmart and Amazon.com as a precursor to who would win the most Black Friday business. We also saw early test sales in November from retailers like Old Navy. Then we witnessed something else new: multi-Black Friday days. Retailers like Walmart ran one-day deals throughout Novemeber, marketing them as Black Friday sales (though usually on Saturday) in hopes of cashing in on people who couldn’t handle waiting until the official day.

Black Friday Season 2010

We can’t be certain what will happen during Black Friday 2010, but from the lessons learned in 2009, and the research we’ve shared in the past (including the Black Friday Wall Street results below), we can confirm that Black Friday 2010 is here. We’re just waiting for the first major retailer to fire the first shot via an announcement or a “leaked” ad.

We’d like to hear your thoughts/predictions for the Black Friday 2010 season. Please take our simple 3-question survey.