The last Friday in November is Black Friday. What today is known as the start of Christmas shopping and comes with amazing discounts has a long tradition in the US. In this article, we take a look at how Black Friday became the international shopping event that it is today.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday in the US
The term and date of Black Friday come from the US. There, it is the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is always held on the fourth Thursday in November and marked by shared meals with families. Because the next major national holiday was Christmas, the day after Thanksgiving was traditionally the first day when people started to think about buying Christmas gifts for family and friends. As a result, retailers tried to capture this shift in energy, and offered competing discounts to attract customers. Over the years, customers took notice and started to see the day as an opportunity to snatch up some of the biggest discounts of the year. It snowballed from there, and now Black Friday is one of the biggest days of the year for sales, even used to measure consumer sentiment for the year.
When you hear Black Friday, do you think of the great Wall Street Crash of 1929? If so, you must be from Europe, because this event actually occurred in New York on Thursday, October 24th, with the news reaching Europe the following day, hence the naming discrepancy. However, the term Black Friday itself was used earlier in the US for several events including a shipping disaster on Lake Erie in 1916, and an 1869 financial crisis.
It may seem confusing, because describing days as “black” in English has generally been used to mean a calamity or disaster occurred. This was in fact the case with the first recorded uses of the term Black Friday to refer to the day after Thanksgiving – either by employers who were dismayed that their employees called in sick in large numbers in order to gain a four-day weekend, or by police who were concerned by large crowd flows and chaos surrounding heavy shopping on the day.
As the term spread, another idea took hold. Namely, that this was the day when retailers went from “the red” to “the black,” finally turning a profit for the first time in the year.
It’s hard to say when the sales truly started, but the postwar economic boom and resulting increase in consumption certainly has something to do with them becoming a wider societal phenomenon. The idea was first adopted by European retailers in the 2010’s in an effort to remain competitive with US-based online retailers.
In 2006, Apple had a big sale on Thanksgiving Friday. And although they didn’t use the term Black Friday in their advertisements in Germany that year, it is seen as the beginning of modern Black Friday marketing in Teufel’s homeland.
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American companies brought Black Friday to Germany, starting with Apple in 2006, though they specifically have yet to use the term Black Friday in Germany. As is so often the case, local brands innovated unique Denglish terms such as Black Week(s), or Black Shopping, which may sound a bit odd to people from other countries. But nevertheless, discounts can often be had for, in many cases, a whole month before Black Friday, especially at various online retailers (which is the case throughout Europe). As early as 2016, online sales in Germany alone over the Black Friday weekend (including Monday) topped one billion euros, and they have only increased since. then.
The Monday after Black Friday is billed Cyber Monday, which again in Germany is sometimes lengthened to Cyber Week. This month of discounts is, like in the US, used for businesses in Germany to meet their sales targets for the year and secure eye-watering profits. For consumers, however, some products only go on sale during these weeks and it can therefore be a great opportunity for consumers as well.
Everyone should make that decision for themselves. The fact is, there are often offers that are attractive for consumers. However, it is always good to be conscientious about shopping choices and not be tempted into buying something you don’t really want or need just because the price is good.
Gift Ideas and Black Friday Offers from Teufel
Teufel’s Webshop has attractive offers and new products as well. If you don’t know what to get, you can always check out our gift ideasOpens in new tab page. Current November discount deals can be found on our Black FridayOpens in new tab page. For exclusive deals and discounts, sign up for our Teufel NewsletterOpens in new tab. That way, you can get Teufel products at the lowest possible prices.
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Are there any other similar sales days?
- Singles’ Day: Mainly popular in China, where it is known as a holiday for the young and lonely. It is also, the largest single online shopping day because of that.
- Cyber Monday: the Monday after Black Friday is considered the start of Christmas season in online shopping. Particularly in the USA, this day is very popular for online purchases.
- Super Saturday: the last Saturday before Christmas is the high point of the Christmas shopping season and is known to have the most turnover in retail settings. In the US, it’s also known as Panic Saturday for the large number of last-minute shoppers.
- Boxing Day: the 26th of December is an important date for shopping in the UK. It was traditionally a day for Christian donation-making for the needy.
- Buy Nothing Day: brought about as a counter-holiday to Black Friday by critics of consumption. It calls on people not to buy anything on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The intention is to bring awareness to more responsible and sustainable consumption patterns.
