This year, consumers will be more prepared than ever for the holiday retail season.  An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette discusses various sources of information (leaked and legitimate) for early Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.  For example, today's edition of the National Retail Federation's daily SmartBrief, their new site CyberMonday.com is promoted.  The site is like a one-stop affiliate marketer for holiday deals of Shop.org members.  The site is not the NRF's attempt at capitalizing on the season, though.  One hundred percent of their proceeds will be donated to the Ray Greenly Scholarship Fund for students interested in pursuing careers in e-commerce.  Great idea, great execution...I love it.

Other sites are more focused on promoting or leaking Black Friday deals.  GottaDeal.com is a two year old source of information on holiday specials.  BlackFriday.info is more of a blog-style viral site that posts information about promotions seen and submitted by readers.  BFads.net has a similar format. 

The Post-Gazette article explores the legality of posting a retailer's promotion before it was intended to be released.  The consensus seems to be that a blatantly stolen copy of an advertisement before its release-date might be worthy of prosecution, but the proliferation of simple hearsay about product prices is unenforceable.  A look at this Los Angeles Times article about Black Friday's waning importance can be juxtaposed against the sites and legal discussions above.  The Times article makes it clear that consumers don't seem to be waiting until Black Friday (or Cyber Monday) to do their shopping.  I can certainly vouch for the fact that the malls are already as packed as they will be in a couple of weeks.  I still have bruises and scars to show for my recent trip to the busiest mall in my area.

So, is there a "right" time to begin the holiday season?  A study by the NRF shows that the average American plans to spend $800 on holiday gifts this year ($457 billion total, up 7% from last year).  Those consumers don't care if it's Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Ash Wednesday or Super Bowl Sunday...they'll start shopping as soon as they think they have found a way to turn that $800 into $750.  If you're a retailer, consider a holiday shopping blog next year that purposely posts information early.  Allow your visitors to subscribe to a special newsletter of holiday email/RSS alerts.  Work with some of these Black Friday blogs to purposely leak information a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.  Take a lesson from Hollywood in getting information to the hungriest news sources before everybody else does.  Buzz should feel like gossip, not like a commercial.

Is it worth all of this effort?  Absolutely.  If the next five weeks will produce 20% of your annual sales, they should consume 20% of your annual marketing power, right?