More People Check-in to Black Friday Sales at 2 pm Than Early in the Morning

Ever wonder exactly the kind of crowd you'll encounter in the early morning hours of Black Friday? According to Foursquare, the popular check-in app, that overnight line of shoppers might not be as bad you think. Contrary to the seemingly ubiquitous notion of Black Friday being a rush of camped out shoppers barreling past employees as retailers fling their doors open for deals, Foursquare found that more people checked in at stores in the 2 pm hour on Black Friday last year than they did in the wee hours of the morning.

That's not to say folks weren't recording their whereabouts in-line on Black Friday 2011. The chart below shows a modest number of check-ins at midnight when many of the big retailers started business last year. However, the number of check-ins then dips before it picks up steam again in the early afternoon. The 2 pm high-time could indicate that there are a large number of people who want to see the Black Friday sales, but don't particularly care for the doorbuster madness of the early morning. (It might also suggest that anyone who bum-rushes the doors at opening is too distracted / excited to check-in, but we figure they had time to do that in line anyway.)

Yet, we expect this chart to look quite different for Black Friday 2012, since a greater number of stores are opening at around 8 pm on Thanksgiving. For many consumers, this is a more manageable hour to commit to shopping, even if it is technically a holiday. Check out the Foursquare infographic below, and let us know how and when you'll shop this year.

Photo credit: Foursquare