Here’s a hypnotic video showing exactly what one million purchases looked like on eBay.com during Black Friday:

What’s really incredible isn’t the data within the map — it’s the map itself. This is no academic exercise. It’s a savvy marketing decision by eBay, a site whose popularity is dependent on, well, it’s popularity. The auction site makes its money off sellers, not buyers, and sellers want to use a site where they know they’ll find plenty of buyers.

As more e-retailers try to claim a slice of the Black Friday pie (not to mention today’s Cyber Monday shopping spree), the smartest ones will focus on the long game, not just the one-day blitz.