Black Friday is here once again, the compulsive shoppers favourite time of the year. Falling on the 27^th this year; many retailers are already offering jaw-dropping discounts on your favourite products, and at Niche we are no different. We are discounting many products at extremely attractive rates, and as usual, making every effort to meet your requirements. For any enquiries regarding our Black Friday promotion, call one of the team here; 01274965089

The real history behind Black Friday

The first recorded use of the term ‘Black Friday’ was surprising not relevant to holiday shopping. Retailers would have you believe that the term refers to the day after Thanksgiving when retailers would begin operating at a profit, because shoppers spent so much money on discounted products in the run up to Christmas. In recent years, the event has turned into a two-week shopping event of which retailers will compete with one another on prices in the hopes of luring in customers first.

Back to the real history however, the first use of Black Friday was back in 1869, and was associated with financial crisis, not shopping discounts. Two wall street financers; Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, invested in a large amount of gold in the hopes of the prices soaring and resulting in them being able to sell for mass profit. On Friday 24^th September; the US gold market crashed drastically, the stock market dropped 20%, foreign trade stopped, and the majority of wall street was left bankrupt. It was not until years later that the post-Thanksgiving period became associated with the name.

In 1950, Philadelphia police used the term ‘Black Friday’ to refer to the day between Thanksgiving and the Army-Navy game, when floods of shoppers and tourists stormed the city in advance of the football game on Saturday. Meaning police officers were not able to take the days off around Thanksgiving, as most Americans were able to, but they also had to work extra long shifts, to manage the crowds and traffic.

1980 brought around the nationwide usage of the term ‘Black Friday’. With retailers managing to reinvent the term and turn it into something positive. Bringing us back to the time that retailers begin operating at a profit. Since then, the one-day sale bonanza has morphed into the two-week event that the world has come to know and love.

Ecommerce websites have benefited massively over the past decade due to Black Friday. With the increase of consumers shopping online rather than the hassle of travelling to overcrowded shopping centres and stores. Especially with the current situation and the limitations with shopping instore, people are turning to ecommerce more than ever, and it is predicted Black Friday weekend including Cyber Monday will be a critical time to make up for slower performance during the first half of 2020.

Latest statistics suggest Brits plan to spend £6 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in 2020. A whopping 18% increase from last year’s statistics.

Whilst there is no doubt that Black Friday will be retailers’ biggest chance to turn about 2020 in terms of sales and profits, Cyber Monday will also be crucial to, in particular- IT and technology retailers.

Now one thing you may be thinking, is if we have already got Black Friday, what is the need for Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday came around in 2005, back when the internet was a slight fantasy. It is always on the first Monday after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday was a deliberate move to promote shopping online, and to help smaller retailers compete with the big names who were able to take full advantage of Black Friday in store.

The term ‘Cyber Monday’ was coined by Ellen Davis, senior vice president of research and strategic initiatives for the National Retail Federation, after noticing a recurring spike in online revenue and traffic the Monday after Thanksgiving. The National Retail Federation issued a press release a few days before Thanksgiving of 2005, introducing the term ‘Cyber Monday’.

That following Monday, online sales reached almost half a billion dollars, a 26% increase from the previous year. Over the years, publicity and recognition of the day increased. In 2014, Cyber Monday became the biggest online shopping day in America, bringing in over 2 billion dollars in sales.

Bringing to conclusion this story on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so the only question that remains; will you be taking advantage of the deals we have to offer this week at Niche?

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For our IT supplies catalogue, visit here.

 

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