Black Friday is the biggest shopping bonanza to be held in the run up to Christmas when retailers offer huge discounts and deals to enable customers to kick start their Christmas shopping.
It occurs on the Friday following America’s “Thanksgiving day” which in 1939 was deemed by President Roosevelt to take place on the last Thursday of November.
Black Friday originated in America. In the 1950s and 60s the Philadelphia Police Department nick named the day Black Friday due to the frenetic shoppers pushing and fighting to get their bargains – a bit like our Boxing Day sales here in the UK.
Amazon were one of the first online companies to introduce Black Friday to Britain about 4 years ago, and as everyone loves a bargain and retailers saw the benefit of higher sales before Christmas it didn’t take long for everyone to jump onto the band wagon.
Asda, who are owned by the American Company Walmart, were the first major retailer to offer in-store Black Friday deals last year and they sold 60% of their Black Friday stock within two hours!
Black Friday has taken over Britain’s Boxing and New Year’s Day sales, as the companies realised that people were more willing to spend as they were looking for offers on Christmas gifts.