The Daily Valet. - 11/28/22, Monday
✔️ The People Are Buying
Monday, November 28th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
I already miss the pumpkin pie. Why does that only come around once a year?
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Today’s Big Story
The People Are Buying
Black Friday sales rake in a record $9.12 billion from online shoppers alone
The long holiday weekend of shopping and sales wraps up today. Cyber Monday—which will easily be the biggest online shopping day of this year—got off to an early start as Black Friday sales gave way to Small Business Saturday sales and then continued on through yesterday, which was ... I don't know, Retail Hangover Sunday?And while people still braved the crowds to shop in person, most of us saved time (and money) by scanning the best deals and discount codes online. Analysts say that online holiday shopping is growing at a slower pace than in past years, but it continues to exceed past sales. A record $9.12 billion was spent online for Black Friday, with electronics (along with toys and exercise gear) driving much of the growth compared to last year.The National Retail Federation said it expects holiday sales to rise between 6% and 8% from last year—but that would actually be a decline when factoring in the effect of inflation. Then again, the lingering deals could move the needle this week. Meaning this season may not be as gloomy as initially predicted. According to the Wall Street Journal, Black Friday had been losing importance before the pandemic hit as shoppers were spreading out their holiday shopping. This year was something of a return, since consumers are currently so deal-driven. Despite the record online spending, people's concerns about the economy are at the highest level since the Great Recession of '08. More than 60% of Americans told NPR that the state of the economy was impacting their holiday spending plans.In a sign of the times, consumers took the opportunity to use new payment methods, with buy now, pay later options jumping 78% compared to the week before Black Friday, reports Axios. Mobile shopping dominated the field too, setting a new record with nearly half of all online sales coming from phones, which is up from 44% in 2021.
FYI:
The term “Cyber Monday” started getting used in 2005 by the National Retail Federation, which needed a name for the flurry of online sales that take place the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend.
The Deadliest Year Yet for U.S. Mass Shootings
And the rate of killings has increased significantly since October
It's all so tragically repetitive. Another shooting at a gay nightclub: five dead, at least two dozen wounded in Colorado Springs. Three days later, another shooting at a Walmart: seven dead, including the gunman. It was soon followed in Virginia—mass shooting #607 this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. But believe it or not, there were at least eight others last week and another in Atlanta on Saturday.This year will likely be the deadliest year yet when it comes to mass shootings in the U.S., according to a professor who has tracked mass killings for 40 years. James Alan Fox, a professor of Criminology, who's in charge of data collection for the mass killing database, told Vice it's important to remember that mass shootings—especially those that take place in public—are rare and only make up less than one percent of all homicides.But there have been more mass shootings than days so far in 2022—a trend that's continued each year since 2019—underscoring the growing prevalence of gun violence in American life. The pace of mass shootings in 2022 is part of a three-year uptick that began in 2020. Between 2019 and 2020, the total number of mass shootings all year jumped from 417 to 610. The number jumped again in 2021 to 690.
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Eurovision Voting Goes Global
The Contest will now let fans in non-participating countries (like the U.S.) vote for a winner
This is either amazing news or means very little to you ... but Americans will now get to vote in the Eurovision Song Contest. The annual music and songwriting competition has a huge following in Europe, but has enjoyed growing international interest over the past few years. Perhaps thanks to Will Ferrell?The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, just announced a set of major changes. They effectively put more power in the hands of the voters while broadening the global electorate. Which means viewers from non-participating countries will—for the first time—be able to vote for their favorite competition songs online.Starting in 2023, only viewers will decide which acts qualify for the final (as opposed to a combination of jury and public vote, which had been the case for many years). Insiders believe, or maybe hope, that allowing Americans to vote will widen Eurovision's fan base in the States. How voting works isn't clear yet—it may happen through the Eurovision app. But a credit card will likely be required as there's a charge for voting.
Save the Date:
The 2023 contest will be held at the Liverpool Arena, and will consist of two semi-finals on May 9 and 11, and a final on May 13.
Who Is Your Headliner?
Haev You Seen those festival lineups on social media? Want one of your own?
Speaking of music ... If you're suddenly seeing some of the most epic festival lineups in history all over your social media feeds—you're not alone. At first, I scrolled past thinking it was an actual festival. But soon it was clear: This was another Spotify thing.Instafest is a third party app that syncs with into your Spotify data to automatically create a fantasy festival lineup based on your listening history. Ready to make your own? You can customize the style of the poster and the duration of your listening history, choosing from the last four weeks, last six months, or all-time—depending on how varied you want your faux festival to be.I can't do it, since I'm an Apple Music guy, not a Spotify guy. But that's okay. I write to so much ambient and wordless music, my headliner would probably be ‘Succession’ score with Odesza on the second day.
FYI:
Spotify is the world's most popular audio streaming subscription service with 456 million users, including 195 million subscribers, across 183 markets.
In Other News
Thanks to severe weather, including rain, winds and snow.
Trump Deems Kanye West a ‘Seriously Troubled Man’ Who ‘Just Happens to Be Black’ After Mar-a-Lago Trip Fallout
Have you heard about ...
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Morning Motto
Stay present and take risks.
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