Black friday shopping Marvil56
Push aside the turkey and the pumpkin pie… It’s time to talk business. Every year on Fall, several countries in the world celebrate Thanksgiving and its equivalents; initially, it was a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. This national and cultural event gave birth to another one, though boosted by trades: Black Friday. Now, that’s a spooky name that could give goosebumps, and yet it’s not linked to Halloween… Since its creation, Black Friday has completely changed marketing, spreading from United States to the entire planet. How did it evolve?
First of all, how and why has such a name been created to describe this post-Thanksgiving event? Black Friday began in the 1950’s, when it was a common thing in the United States to call in sick the day after Thanksgiving (which always happens on the last Thursday of November) to get a four-day weekend. As it was a mess trying to determine who was genuinely sick and who wasn’t, companies turned that day into a paid holiday, soon becoming national. It was a genius idea profitable for everyone, because stores were still open for the day, and most of American people rushed to malls to shop.
However, years after years, there were so many shoppers that it created accidents on the roads and violence in shops. The chaos went to the point where Philadelphia’s police department called it a black day, due to the masses of pedestrians and cars in shopping areas. That is how the name ‘Black Friday’ was born!
Black Friday is the opportunity for stores to offer their best deals, because they know that many people will come to their aisles. Sales often reach exceptional bargains levels, making it the busiest shopping day of the year.
Business has completely changed since it has been created, positively for many because of sales revenues, but to others, Black Friday is the synonym of a day of nightmares. Numerous accidents in selling places due to stampedes happen every year, which put shivers down the spines of consumers. A problem that the marketers have to solve...
A bright future for a negative day
In the recent years, a new trend has emerged, called Cyber Monday. It’s a clever way to extend the sales to online stores, proposing bargains on websites as well to make sure that stocks are emptied. Walmart, the biggest retailer of USA, makes as much turnover on that period on their website than Amazon itself, the usual leader!
With the growing number of consumers who prefer to buy online, a quarter to half of targets are expected to enjoy Black Friday discounts from home only.
Cyber Monday
Since 2015, more than a third of shoppers in USA and UK do their Black Friday shopping online. The inconvenience and stress of stores is driving consumers on websites, to avoid the unpleasant experience in actual shops. Because of this decreasing number of consumers in stores, retailers needed to innovate to attract them back. They had to be creative and clever, using digital tools: data-driven insights were used to inform users the most on promotions and bargains specifically targeted to them. It also allowed to give recommendations based on their previous purchases. Another clever move was to allow customers to pay their products in advance from their smartphone or laptop, then pick them up in stores, relieving them from the rush that could have happened in the regular Black Friday shopping experience. Consumers change (with new generations) and their buying habits change (with new platforms). The key, as always, is to adapt marketing, and turn to omnichannel shopping.
In conclusion
Black Friday is far from stopping. With new technologies and new ways to shop in our digital era, the hype won’t disappear and might even get bigger. But safer! The time of stress and panic in stores is about to come to an end, much to everyone’s relief, especially shop addicts and bargain hunters around the world.
