If you’re like me, and you were curious about how Black Friday hype translated into retail sales, your head is spinning right about now. Because the flurry of post-Black Friday news reports is packed with conflicting information, data that doesn’t seem to add up, and wildly variant conclusions about whether the Black Friday weekend was a “success” or a “disappointment” and about what is in store for the rest of the holiday season. In this edition of Retail Rap, we discuss the new kind of Black Friday, and what that will mean for retailers and consumers alike.

As the impact of Black Friday is being diluted and dispersed over several days, Cyber Monday has also lost some of its punch. With customers shopping online throughout the weekend and throughout the following week (“Cyber Week”), the motivation to make purchases on Monday is less urgent. As an industry, we still look to Black Friday as if it means something. But is that meaning changing?

Join me in this edition of Retail Rap. I’d love to hear your thoughts and observations from the holiday weekend. Did you do your shopping from the comfort of home, or did you head out to the stores? What changes did you notice compared to Black Fridays in the past?