New York, Nov 30 (AFP/APP): The US holiday shopping season officially opened with a deluge of “Black Friday” promotions but the frenzied crowds of the past have thinned out with the rise of e-commerce. Companies in the retail, entertainment and tourism industries once again tried to entice shoppers after Thanksgiving with a bevy of offers on a day synonymous with American consumer culture and notorious “doorbuster” sales that start at the crack of dawn. But US consumers aren’t buying Black Friday the way they once did. Only 36 percent of US consumers plan to shop this year on Black Friday, down one percent from last year and a decline of 23 percent from 2015, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey. “Just a few years ago, Black Friday had the aura of a FOMO (fear of missing out) event,” PWC said. “Now it seems more symbolic than significant in the pantheon of retail holidays.” Some Do’s and Don’ts for the Winter Black Friday will be followed in three days by “Cyber Monday,” a second highpoint of spending early in the season. Friday’s sales have prompted copycat versions throughout Europe, an effort that has generated no small amount of friction. This year’s events … Continue reading ‘Black Friday’ becoming a shadow of its former self in US