I got the Steely Dan song, Black Friday, running through my head.

I'm not sure what Becker and Fagan think about all the retail buzz of this day after Thanksgiving.  But certainly the Internet plays a major part.

You have those who rush to the stores at the crack of dawn for the best retail deals.  And others who shop online.  And then there's the growing army of consumers who use the web to research deals at brick and mortar outlets, and probably do shopping on and offline.

This story at InternetRetailer.com gives some insight into the online usage revolving around the Black Friday phenomenon.  According to research by Hitwise.com, sites dedicated to Black Friday deals and information had big traffic increases in the past week (not surprising).  Top retail web sites benefiting from the info at sites like BlackFriday.info were Walmart.com, CircuitCity.com and Sears.com.

So it appears that savvy shoppers are using the web for research and to find bargains online and off.  That hardly seems a surprise.