Mashable: Amazon Just Killed Black Friday

For as long as we can remember, the familiar tunes of Christmas start blaring at superstores on November 1st like clockwork. And what is Thanksgiving really about, if not the succession of Black Friday?

This year, Amazon is taking the most popular day to shop in America and turning it into a two month-long event. Could this potentially decrease traffic at brick-and-mortar stores?

As of yesterday, November 1st, Amazon boasts its “Black Friday” sales until Thursday, December 22. That’s a whopping 52 days. However, the types of major sales you expect to see on Black Friday (think iPads for 30 percent off) are being saved for the week of. As Mashable reports, “This is just ‘the countdown to Black Friday.’”

But here comes the kicker. Amazon is encouraging consumers to purchase Black Friday items online (rather than brick-and-mortar stores) by offering a new app feature, which allows you to take a picture of an item at a store and search for it on Amazon.

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