While “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving, gets all the hype from the media, just as much attention should be attributed to “Cyber Monday” – the Monday after Thanksgiving. According to a December 3 post on www.wsj.com by Kerry E. Grace, December 1 netted total on-line sales worth nearly $850 million. And although on-line retail spending for the first 31 days of the holiday season fell 2 percent from a year ago, spending on Cyber Monday was up 15 percent.

The report also said that the four days between Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw online sales jump 13 percent. Much of this growth is attributed to web-based markdowns and promotions, often to the detriment of proper pricing margins. So while retailers can’t be blamed for working to capture whatever money is available, you have to wonder if they’re not setting themselves, and their suppliers, up for failure. By slashing prices to the consumer, this will create an inverse flow of cost cutting that will be felt by manufacturers and ultimately product designers with a potentially smaller budget for new product development.

With all the indecision currently floating around our economy it will be crucial for companies to not only protect their pricing for long-term survival, but to be ensure the proper funds can still be allocated towards innovation. After all, this will be the key in emerging from the poor economic conditions being universally endured throughout all product marketplaces.