Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving in the United States, has a long and evolving history. The term “Black Friday” was originally coined in the 1960s in Philadelphia to describe the chaotic and congested post-Thanksgiving shopping day. It was used negatively to refer to the heavy traffic and crowds that flooded the city as shoppers sought deals and discounts. Over time, retailers and marketers recognized the potential of Black Friday as a sales bonanza, and they began offering special promotions and extended shopping hours to attract customers.
In the 21st century, Black Friday has become one of the biggest shopping events in the United States, marking the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. It often involves massive discounts, doorbuster deals, and early morning store openings, with some retailers even opening their doors on Thanksgiving evening. The rise of e-commerce has also led to the expansion of Black Friday into Cyber Monday, where online retailers offer their own discounts and promotions. While Black Friday has become synonymous with shopping frenzy, it has also drawn criticism for encouraging consumerism, contributing to overconsumption, and sometimes leading to incidents of violence and chaos at retail stores. Nonetheless, it remains a significant cultural and economic phenomenon born in the USA.*
Sales Increase
Okay, so let’s be honest… Black Friday participation can quickly boost your sales. This is great if you need to clear out some older stock, or you need a quick
Devalue Brand
After being in business for a while, you notice that people don’t value free. So, by the same logic, if you’re discounting your product/service then the value being perceived is potentially devalued. That hard earned reputation from quality gets diminished.
Chase the high
You’ve got that euphoria from the massive uplift in sales, so what happens the week or month after? Do you accept your month-on-month trend is down, or… do you chase the high, run another sale! The danger is your business becomes a parody of the DFS sales.
Ride the wave
Obviously Black Friday gets a lot of attention, good, bad and ugly. But this does mean that using the right hashtags means that you can ride the wave attention for an added surge in your social media post reach.
Don’t stand out
There might be a surge in post reach, but.. What if everyone else is riding the same wave? It’s quite busy and congested out there. If everyone is doing a Black Friday sale, does anyone actually stand out? In order to stand out from the crowd and get noticed you need to do something different, do something unique.
It’s not all bad
Black Friday has got a bit of a kicking in this blog, the intention isn’t to poo-poo the concept but more offer an insight and challenge the status quo. Just because it’s Black Friday, or Black Friday Weekend, Black Friday Week or even Black Friday MONTH(?!?!) doesn’t mean you have to take part.
It’s your business, so you decided when and most importantly IF to run a sale.
If you need any help with cost analysis or pricing your service/product then please get in contact with Carl Ford & Associates via email at hello@carlford.biz and we can help apply some accountancy logic to your pricing, costing and sales process.
* Sorry for the ear worm…. You did sing Bruce Springstein… Right?
