Black Friday sales first arrived in the UK in 2010 – long after the term was coined in the United States in the 19th century.
Strangely, the day was originally associated with a notorious Wall Street financial crisis when traders went bankrupt, rather than consumers enjoying some retail therapy.
© Patrick Shutterstock / Shutterstock.com
Today, people eagerly await Black Friday UK-wide, as many top online retailers and bricks-and-mortar stores offer massive discounts.
In 2022, retail sales across Britain were up by a staggering 304% compared with 2021, surpassing all expectations. Consumers spent £12.3 billion, smashing the forecast of £8.7 billion.
Analysts say they are unsure how the event will fare this year due to the economic crisis that has impacted Britain.
Origins of Black Friday
The term Black Friday was first used in 1869, when two Wall Street bankers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, came up with a “get rich quick” scheme that went horribly wrong.
They had made money by collaborating to take over the Erie Railroad – the most direct route across the US, linking New York to all western cities.
Prior to this, Gould had worked in banking, leather tanning and lumber, while Fisk had become a stockbroker after making a fortune selling textiles to the government during the American Civil War.
Both were shrewd businessmen and came up with a devious plan to buy up a lot of gold, which was at a low price after the end of the Civil War in 1865. They believed this would increase the wholesale price, enabling them to sell the gold on again, making themselves a massive profit.
Unfortunately, on Friday 24th September 1869, the US gold market crashed, bankrupting many of their clients. The disaster was dubbed Black Friday.
Some 80 years later, the term became associated with the period after Thanksgiving. The Friday after Thanksgiving was always particularly busy in Philadelphia in the 1950s, as tourists and shoppers poured into the city. Police officers weren’t allowed to take any time off as a result, so they sarcastically called the day Black Friday.
At the time, shopkeepers didn’t like the term, as it had negative connotations. However, it became associated with the Thanksgiving sales and eventually became a positive phrase that had spread across America by the 1980s.
Black Friday in the UK
In 2010, Amazon brought the Black Friday phenomenon to the UK. The online retail giant’s first sale in Britain was so popular that all the items sold out quickly and the sheer volume of traffic crashed the website.
Realising the event’s popularity, other online retailers started to organise their own Black Friday sales.
The first in-store event in the UK was launched by Asda in 2013, when discounts of 70% led to crowds of customers queuing to rush in when the store opened. Despite fighting breaking out in the aisles as shoppers jostled for bargains, the sale was hailed a success. Other stores hosted Black Friday sales the following year.
The event in the UK has grown in popularity ever since, with online sales accounting for 61% of the total spending in 2022.
When is Black Friday?
This year’s Black Friday sale will take place on 24th November. Analysts aren’t sure what impact the cost-of-living crisis will have and say it could go either way.
With people battling rising prices and tighter budgets, they may not have as much money to spend on Black Friday as they would have previously. However, it’s also possible that more people will shop at the event, as they will hope to do some Christmas shopping early to save money. Economists say it’s therefore incredibly difficult to predict how it will go.
Retailers should already be getting prepared for the event. Whether you’re a traditional shopkeeper with high street premises, or you run an online business, reap the benefits of offering customers special deals.
It’s essential to plan your marketing campaign meticulously and make sure any deals offered are eye-catching. Data from Google Trends shows interest in the search term “Black Deals” begins in August and continues right up to the event.
Decorating your shopfront with the appropriate signage and window display is essential to grab the attention of passers-by. A good quality aluminium shop front can play a crucial role in driving shoppers into your store, emphasising your brand and announcing your Black Friday deals.