Will consumers avoid Black Friday and wait for Cyber Monday?

Over the years Black Friday has morphed from simply being a busy shopping day into one of chaos and madness. After Black Friday arrives, subsequent reports of injuries, or even death, are frequently reported in recent years.

These incidents are often attributed to the stampedes that result when stores open their doors, or in some cases, never get a chance to officially open, before a tragedy occurs. Ranker.com has compiled and ranked the 13 most brutal Black Friday injuries and deaths. These listings range from deathly stampedes to shootouts which have occurred over the past few years. Some of the videos show the lengths individuals will go to in order to grab that coveted sale item. The listing includes the 2008 Walmart stampede in Long Island, N.Y. when eager crowds literally broke down the store's doors before the official opening time. As employees tried to stop the madness, a 34-year-old temporary employee was trampled to death, and a pregnant woman miscarried. Determined shoppers even attempted to push past police when they arrived on the scene. Stores have tried tactics opening their doors earlier, before the scheduled sale time begins, but this results in other forms of tug-of-war which occur inside the store. Today the trend of beginning Black Friday earlier has morphed into a way for businesses to stay competitive St. Louis Today reports that this year even malls are getting in on the action of opening at midnight in order to accommodate the retailers who want to start Black Friday early. What will this year bring? If history is any indicator videos, images and first-hand accounts will surface that demonstrate the lunacy that occurs annually on this day. For those that want to enjoy the sales, but won't venture out on Black Friday, Cyber Monday may be the solution for shoppers who want to save a few bucks on holiday shopping. Previous statistics have indicated Cyber Monday sales are steadily increasing each year. Last year's Cyber Monday broke the previous year's record-breaker sales with a 20 percent increase.