At the end of November, (online) shopping is all about Black Friday. Your mailbox floods with the best Black Friday deals that you don’t want to miss and it’s nearly impossible to resist the temptation of shopping. Nerve-racking? No! Black Friday is the perfect time to do your Christmas shopping. But what is Black Friday? We tell you all about our favourite day of the year and why Black Friday is called Black Friday!

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the world-famous shopping event where you can benefit from spectacular deals. The event originated in the U.S and refers to the day after Thanksgiving. Most Americans have Thanksgiving and the following Friday off. Because so many people are off work, shops drop prices to start the holiday shopping season. It’s based around retailers making such impressive discounts, that bargain-crazed customers even try to break the doors down before the shop opens.

The UK has caught on to this trend, even though we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. In 2010, Amazon brought Black Friday across the pond and the busiest shopping day of the year has been building up momentum ever since. During Black Friday, you can grab fantastic deals at online as well as offline retailers. The discounts may not be as high as in the U. S. of A, but they can be found at a stunning number of retailers.

Why Black Friday is called Black Friday

The origin of the name Black Friday is quite unclear. Several theories float around on the internet, but three of them seem to be the most obvious.

The theory that stands out the most has to do with Macy’s. Yep, the American department store! In 1924, Macy’s launched its famous Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City as a way to celebrate its success during the Roaring Twenties. The parade boosted shopping for the following day, and retailers developed a gentleman’s agreement to wait until then before advertising holiday sales.

The second theory goes back to the 1960s. On the Friday following Thanksgiving, the terms ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Black Saturday’ were used by the police in Philadelphia to describe the crowds and traffic. Many, many people went to the centre to profit from outrageous discounts. Because so many people hit the shops, they caused serious traffic congestion. The police had a hard time controlling the chaos and named the day after Thanksgiving ‘Black Friday’.

The third theory goes back to 1981 and has to do with shopping, ink and accountants. With all the shopping activity that takes place the Friday after Thanksgiving, this day became the day that retailers would finally make a profit. Back in the day, accountants used black ink to signify profits when written down in the financial records. Red ink was used to show negative amounts. According to this theory, Black Friday is the beginning of the period when retailers would see positive earnings and profits ‘in the black’.  

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is a shopping event, but purely an online affair. It was a move to promote online shopping back in 2005 when the internet was in its infancy. Cyber Monday was intended to help small retailers compete with the big household names who were harping on about Black Friday. However, those big old names jumped on the Cyber Monday bandwagon too. Some retailers will sell at a decent discount during Black Friday only to slash down the prices even further for Cyber Monday, hoping to clear out the rest of their stock. Other retailers will do so well and sell out during Black Friday, leaving you out of luck on Cyber Monday. It can be worth waiting until the prices are cut down to almost zero, but be aware that many products and sizes sell out on Black Friday. If you see a fantastic Black Friday deal, we recommend you go for it since products can sell out within minutes. 

via GIPHY