A customer shops in Saginaw Township, Mich., on Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. (AP)

Thousands of shoppers waited anxiously Friday to take advantage of several doorbuster deals and local store bargains and sales.

Black Friday officially marks the start of the holiday shopping season and has become a well-known tradition for many American consumers.

Although this famous day-after-Thanksgiving has not been marked as an official U.S. holiday, several people still see it as a traditional one.

For many of these shoppers, being able to get one-day discounted items means camping outside of a store the day before.

“I waited in-line at Fry’s at around 2 p.m. after Thanksgiving lunch,” shopper Hayden Rhea said. “It’s a tradition that me and my friends do, and also because it’s full of great deals.”

According to many shoppers, early preparation is the key to finding heavily discounted products.

Being able to get those Black Friday deals also requires a unique deal of strategy Rhea said.

“On Friday morning about 3 a.m. we planned how my friends and I would spread out in the store to cover ground and get multiples of each item,” Rhea said.

With a great deal of patience and careful planning, Black Friday shoppers can typically get numerous deals on the items they want.

“You just really want the things you waited in line for,” Rhea said. “I got all that I wanted.”

Thanks to many shoppers all over the country like Rhea, the stock market saw a favorable increase this week from spending consumers, which is good news for the U.S. economy.

Among many retailers who boosted from Black Friday shopping, Wal-Mart had the leading sales on record with a reported 22 million customers.

With thousands of shoppers scurrying in to grab special marked deals, many stores decided to open their doors early to gain more sales and traffic.

Kenyia Williams, an employee at Windsor in the Dallas Galleria mall, came in early to work on Black Friday.

“By the end of the night I was extremely tired,” Williams said. “I’ve been working in retail for three years now, so I am used to all the chaos and tons of people.”

While many deals offered by retailers are an exceptional way for shoppers to save money, the shopping frenzy has also left many like Williams with a sour taste in their mouth.

“I think Black Friday is overrated,” Williams said. “I went shopping on Black Friday four years ago and I have not since.”

Steering away from a day of savings has its benefits. This year, several brutal deaths and injuries were reported all over the country as thousands of shoppers stampeded into stores Friday.

Of these reports, many people were trampled over as dangerous crowds pushed themselves into the doors.

But, with promotional sales and cheap prices, Black Friday continues to be a time of the year worth shopping to save on some of the best electronics and gifts.