Black Friday: What is it? How does it last?

Black Friday. One of the most popular days for consumers to buy Christmas presents and companies to put products on sale. Many camp out in front of stores, for hours, and try to get a T.V. that is 60%. Adults, grown adults, will fight over the newest designer bag just because it has just dropped 50% of its price. Retail workers will shake in fear as mobs of people rush into stores, well before the sun has risen. Well, that’s at least what many people think when they hear “Black Friday”. Today, however, the day is less intense than many may remember it being. I’ve personally never camped out in the cold, all for a “steal deal on the newest technology” or anything really. I feel that during the time when I’ve grown up, I’m in an era where people are less willing to go crazy for a sale, but many people I know still go to the mall and different stores to get these deals. But, how did the craziness of Black Friday start? How did companies decide to pick the day after Thanksgiving for intense sales? How has the day lasted this long?  

Black Friday is the day where chain stores across the United States offer limited sales on a vast variety of goods to lure shoppers into the stores. It is conveniently after Thanksgiving, which is actually the day where many people recognize as the “Start of Christmas” and go out Christmas shopping. According to Britannica, this term, “Black Friday” actually started in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1960 and it was used to describe the chaos of shoppers swarming the city to start their holiday shopping. The humongous crowds caused chaos, longer shifts for retail store workers, and even traffic and crime for the city. However, the shopping craze didn’t start till the late 1980’s, where merchants and sales people started to try and earn more profit by starting to issue sales, which draw people into their stores for their Christmas shopping. However, as online shopping continues to become a bigger use of shopping, the new date “Cyber Monday” has arised. Cyber Monday is basically the same thing as Black Friday, but only it’s online. According to Britannica, the term “Cyber Monday” was coined by the National Retail Federation when a group of people noticed that on the Monday following Black Friday, there was an increase in the amount of people who bought goods online for their holiday shopping. After many retailers, especially online-only ones, started to notice the trend in people shopping on the following monday, they started to put out sales and deals for online-purchases only to draw more and more people to their online stores. As well, in the more recent years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have inspired the start of “Small Business Saturday” which is where many people are encouraged to shop at small businesses for the holiday season. Moreover, Black Friday has inspired a day of huge deals for holiday shopping, and also the start of other days for seasonal deals. 

Even with all the consumers coming to stores, retailers are knocking down prices on a variety of goods. So, how do these companies make money? Well, companies often use Black Friday to get rid of any stock they don’t want to keep. Businesses can use these sales to drop the price on out-of-season seasonal items that are just taking up space, making it more likely that these goods sell. Also, unpopular items may seem more appealing to consumers, especially new shoppers, if the price is significantly lower than it was originally. Getting rid of any stock is more profitable than just holding onto it, especially when it is taking up space for in-demand items that can sell quickly. Second, Black Friday often draws new customers to stores they have never been in before. Many seek deals, and when a store they have often wanted to go to, but never had the chance to, has huge deals going on, they may feel inclined to go. The sales and deals offered on Black Friday make an appealing atmosphere for first-time shoppers, which exposes them to new stores and could result in them becoming regular shoppers. If stores are receiving new customers in their stores, then there is a higher possibility of the store gaining more profit. Third, Black Friday is the day where stores often sell the most, no matter if the prices of goods are lower. For example, according to YCharts, the revenue for the quarter before Black Friday was 152.81 Billion Dollars, but the quarter that included Black Friday was 164.05 Billion Dollars. Although this may not look like a significant change, the increase in revenue for Walmart proves that Black Friday had an effect on the company’s revenue. This proves that Black Friday does earn profit for companies, and that the deals and sales do not hinder that revenue. 

Today, Black Friday is no longer limited to only a Friday. Many companies, like Target and Amazon, are starting to have week long sales, some even lasting all month long or till Christmas. But why is that? The most basic answer is that companies are trying to draw in more customers and more profit. Many consumers are starting to draw away from only going only deal shopping on Black Friday. According to Accenture, in a survey of 1,150 people, 64% of people said that they don’t feel as inclined to shop like they used to on Black Friday. This percentage of people not shopping on Black Friday has risen over the past couple years. This could explain the shift to week-long deals instead of one day deals. If fewer people are wanting to go out on Friday, then companies need to find a way to make the same amount of profit as they do on Black Friday. Therefore, making sales and deals that can last from a week to even a whole month is profitable for companies  because it draws consumers all week or all month long, which can overall make as much profit as Black Friday. Black Friday is most likely still able to last this long, due to the extended deals and sales. 

Yet, as the years go on, many deals and sales seem to become less extreme and not really worth waiting in lines for. 50% to 75% deals soon turned into 30% and 40%, which may not be worth leaving home for. So why do many still go out on Black Friday? Why do these large companies still earn insane amounts of revenue? It all has to do with our brains. According to Fabric, our brain has its own “reward system”, so to speak. This is where our brain connects different events we experienced to the feeling of pleasure, and stores that feeling when we have the events repeated. So, when we go shopping, especially on Black Friday, and we get goods that we really like and feel happy with our new stuff, our brains associate that event with the feeling of pleasure. This is what likely causes us to continue shopping, because our brains may not have the connection to displeasure. Also, the marketing strategies that companies use have effects on our brains as well. Again, Fabric claims that the color of sales signs can trigger positive emotion within their consumers. For example, the color Red is a commonly used color for sales and deals signs. This is on purpose. Red often triggers the mind to become more alert and focus on the color, and can stimulate your brain so you're drawn in. Red can also influence your behavior, based on what the color is being used with. Therefore, when a business uses the color Red to highlight the 60% sale they are having on all goods in the store, your brain will become more alert, due to the color, and you may feel more drawn into going to the store and shopping. The attractiveness and psychology behind many Black Fridays campaigns and sales is a likely influence to why many people continue to shop on Friday. 

Black Friday is becoming an interesting thing. From a singular day designed to start holiday shopping, to a mess of week long sales, Black Friday is changing from its origins. Many stores are no longer sticking to the singular day sales. Rather, they are opting for extended sales to draw in more consumers that may not like shopping on Black Friday. Many consumers are now starting to stray away from shopping only on Friday. Many now would rather get the same deals in the comfort of their own home and avoid the busy day overall. Still, Black Friday brings benefits to the companies that participate because they have a way to get rid of unwanted back stock and old seasonal products, draw new customers to their stores with flashy deals and sales, and the popular day brings in huge amounts of profit by just being a national shopping day. Additionally, the use of simulating colors and feeling of pleasure convinces our brains to go shopping. The color Red triggers our minds to be alert and causes us to look at the many sales signs, and when we are happy to get new goods, our brains associate that feeling with pleasure. This is one of the many reasons why consumers still shop. Altogether, I believe that Black Friday is a very strategized and smartly-done day of national sales. From the planned market strategies to the psychology used to draw consumers in, it is no mystery why millions of dollars in profit are made each year. And as the years go on, more and more ways are developed to make the sales event last, like moving deals online and extending certain deals. I believe that Black Friday will continue to develop and change from where it started, but because of these developments, I think it will continue to stay and be around for many more years to come.