What is Black Friday?
Black Friday originated in the United States of America. The term “Black Friday” is a colloquial term for the Friday following Thanksgiving. Traditionally it marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Many stores offer sales at discounted prices, these sales are highly promoted. Some stores open early, some even as early as midnight. Some of the stores even continue their sales to the next Monday or even for an entire week.
There is a very common theory as to the origin of Black Friday. It seems to have originated in the 1950s. Factory workers would call in sick the day after Thanksgiving, in order to have a 4-day weekend. There is no real evidence of this being the case, as the tradition does not seem to have caught on.
There is no concrete evidence as to who came up with the term “Black Friday” or when it came into use for describing the day after US Thanksgiving.
There is yet another theory that has been in circulation since the 1980s. It refers to retail stores and companies running at a loss for the majority of the year and are only able to turn a profit at the start of the Christmas shopping season. Accountants used a red pen to indicate loss and black pen to indicate profit. Retailers have adopted this theory and thus have turned Black Friday into what it is today. Extremely discounted prices, masses of people, and an unbelievable amount of sales.
Why did Black Friday become popular in South Africa?
The whole world has practically adopted the American Black Friday tradition. South Africa was a little bit late when deciding to jump on the band-waggon. Takealot was the first to bring Black Friday to South Africa. For the first two years, many people remained sceptical of this imported tradition. They paid very little attention to the deals and discounts. This lack of attention resulted in Black Friday sales being mainly online.
In 2015 South African consumers finally began to see the value of Black Friday. More stores got involved in the tradition and there was a very distinct increase in special offers and promotions. The Black Friday presence steadily grew in South Africa. It took a real turning point in 2018. People began to queue outside retail stores, some sat at home waiting for midnight to add their favourite deals to their online cart.
There was a bit of a hiccup when the pandemic hit, which lead retailers to go from “Black Friday” to “Black November”, which turned it into a month-long campaign. This campaign diluted the concept of Black Friday slightly as well as its value to its consumers.
Black Friday came back full-swing in 2022 and continues to play a significant role in the South African retail market.
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