Last year, online sales on Black Friday reached an all-time record of $3.34 billion, up 21.6 year-over-year...and this year's online sales are likely to exceed last year's record. Last year's holiday shopping surprise performance of online versus brick and mortar shocked the retail community and this year's Black Friday weekend will bring even more surprises.

For the innovation practitioner observing or, indeed, participating in this frenzy of shopping, two aspects of this period are worthy of additional investigation and can provide insights into the art of new thinking.