Although Black Friday doesn’t look like it used to – with crowded stores and customers pushing at the door – the traditional year-end sales event still attracts millions of consumers.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that about 182 million people plan to shop in stores and online during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
At the same time, economists note that inflation, while lower than last year, is still a concern for consumers – and may lead to more modest spending this season.
Here’s what you need to know about the history of Black Friday
When Is Black Friday in 2023?
Black Friday is on the Friday after Thanksgiving. In 2023, Black Friday will be on November 24.
How Long Has Black Friday Existed? Where Does This Name Come From?
The term “Black Friday” has existed for several generations, but it hasn’t always been associated with the Christmas retail frenzy we know today. The gold market crash in September 1869, for example, was nicknamed Black Friday.
The use of the phrase in relation to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, however, is more often attributed to Philadelphia in the mid-20th century – when police and other city workers had to deal with large crowds gathering to take advantage of seasonal sales.
But starting in the 1980s, retailers across the country began claiming that Black Friday represented the moment they stopped operating in the “Red” to operate in the “Black,” as year-end sales increased profits.
How Has Black Friday Evolved?
In recent decades, Black Friday has become famous for the crowds of people in stores and endless lines of shoppers camping out since midnight in hopes of scoring big discounts.
But the rise of online shopping has made it easier to do most, if not all, year-end shopping from the couch – something that was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although stores have regained some in-person customers with the end of the pandemic, the growing strength of e-commerce is not going to disappear.
The peak of physical retail sales in November was observed 20 years ago. In 2003, e-commerce accounted for just 1.7% of total retail sales in the fourth quarter, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
It’s no surprise that online sales represent a much larger slice of the pie today. In last year’s holiday season, e-commerce accounted for about 16.3% of all retail sales in the fourth quarter, according to the Department of Commerce.
‘Month’ of Black Friday and the Rise of Cyber Monday
It’s no secret that Black Friday sales no longer last just 24 hours. Today, you can receive emails with promotions similar to Black Friday even before Halloween.
Black Friday has literally become a month, as retailers have been rolling out these offers earlier and earlier. This “stretching” of Black Friday comes from both the increasing competition among retailers and the need to ease the pressure on logistics.
Post-holiday shopping is now accompanied by various shopping events – including Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, which officially emerged in 2005.
Cyber Monday (which has now turned into Cyber Week), in particular, has surged in the e-commerce era. According to Adobe Analytics, consumers spent a record total of $11.3 billion on Cyber Monday in 2022, marking the biggest online shopping event of the year. During peak hours, consumers spent $12.8 million per minute.
Although it may not seem the same as decades ago, in-person Black Friday shopping will not disappear completely. There is the social appeal and enjoyment that consumers experience while shopping in stores. That is, Black Friday is slowly becoming less important, but it is likely not going to disappear anytime soon.
Source: The Hill