Black Friday: Origins, Meaning and Why It Matters for Businesses

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, has become synonymous with huge sales, busy stores and the start of the holiday shopping season. It has become a pivotal moment in the retail industry and is having a significant economic impact on businesses.

Origins in Philadelphia: The Chaotic Beginnings

The term “Black Friday” was coined by police officers in Philadelphia in the 1950s. It referred to the chaos that reigned on the Friday after Thanksgiving, when the city was flooded on Saturday with shoppers and football fans arriving for the annual Army-Navy game. The traffic jams, crowded streets and booming retail sales made the day particularly challenging for law enforcement and local businesses and gave it a negative connotation. The “black” in the name symbolized the dark experience of managing chaos.

In the 1960s, the term spread beyond Philadelphia and became widely recognized as the busiest shopping day of the year.

Accounting Terms: From Losses to Profits

In the 1980s, retailers worked to change the negative image of Black Friday. They linked it to accounting terms, with “red numbers” meaning losing money and “black numbers” meaning making a profit. As a result, Black Friday became known as the day when retailers went from losses to profits, thereby demonstrating economic success.

This new idea gained widespread popularity among both consumers and businesses, transforming Black Friday from a chaotic day into a symbol of financial success and marking the start of the holiday shopping season.

Black Friday extends beyond a single day

Over time, Black Friday expanded into a single day of store sales. The rise of online shopping and the combination of deals with Cyber ​​Monday have turned it into a multi-day or even week-long shopping event. Retailers offer deals well in advance of the official day, and in some cases Black Friday sales extend into the weekend and beyond.

The event has also become a global phenomenon, with countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil and India adopting the tradition.

The importance of Black Friday for companies

For businesses, Black Friday is more than just a big sales day – it’s an important time to make money. Many retailers make big money from the big discounts on offer, with sales accounting for a large portion of their annual profits.

Benefits for businesses include:

– Big discounts attract millions of buyers and lead to record sales.

-Retailers use Black Friday to sell off old inventory to make room for new items.

-Special offers attract new customers who may come back later.

-Online shopping has made Black Friday a global event, with deals extending through Cyber ​​Monday and even beyond.