It’s common for retailers to offer special promotions online and in-store on Black Friday. Many open their doors during the pre-dawn hours on Black Friday to attract customers. To keep up with the competition, some retailers have gone so far as to keep their operations going on the Thanksgiving holiday, while others begin offering deals earlier during November.

Really avid bargain hunters have been known to camp out overnight on Thanksgiving to secure a place in line at a favorite store; the most fanatical have been known to skip Thanksgiving dinner altogether and camp out in parking lots for days or even weeks to get great deals. The promotions usually continue through Sunday, and both brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers see a spike in sales.

• What Is Black Friday?
• What is the Main Idea of Black Friday?
• How do you Explain Black Friday to a Child?
• What are the Benefits of Black Friday?
• How does Black Friday Affect the Economy?
• Why is it Called Black Friday ‘?
• Why do People Like Black Friday?
• Why is Black Friday Important to Consumers?
• How to Prepare For Black Friday
• What are the Negatives of Black Friday?
• Do Businesses Benefit from Black Friday?
• Do People Actually Save Money on Black Friday?
• Which Country does not Participate in Black Friday?
• How do you Attract Customers on Black Friday?

What Is Black Friday?

Black Friday refers to the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which has also traditionally been a holiday itself for many employees. It is typically a day full of special shopping deals and big discounts and is considered the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

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The sales made on Black Friday are often thought of as a litmus test for the overall economic condition of the country and a way for economists to measure the confidence of the average American when it comes to discretionary spending. Those who share the Keynesian assumption that spending drives economic activity view lower Black Friday sales figures as a harbinger of slower growth.

What is the Main Idea of Black Friday?

Somewhere along the way, Black Friday made the giant leap from congested streets and crowded stores to fevered shoppers fighting over parking spaces and tussling over the latest must-have toy. When did Black Friday become the frenzied, over-the-top shopping event it is today?

That would be in the 2000s when Black Friday was officially designated the biggest shopping day of the year. Until then, that title had gone to the Saturday before Christmas. Yet, as more retailers started touting “can’t miss” post-Thanksgiving sales, and the Black Friday discounts grew deeper and deeper, American consumers could no longer resist the pull of this big shopping day.

In 2011, Walmart announced that, instead of opening its doors on Friday morning, it would start sales on Thanksgiving evening. That started a frenzy among other big-box retailers who quickly followed suit. Today, Black Friday is a longer event—a Black Weekend.

Some investors and analysts look at Black Friday numbers as a way to gauge the overall health of the entire retail industry. Others scoff at the notion that Black Friday has any real fourth-quarter predictability for the stock markets as a whole. Instead, they suggest that it only causes very short-term gains or losses.

However, in general, the stock market can be affected by having extra days off for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It tends to see increased trading activity and higher returns the day before a holiday or a long weekend, a phenomenon known as the holiday effect or the weekend effect. Many traders look to capitalize on these seasonal bumps.

How do you Explain Black Friday to a Child?

Black Friday is an annual shopping day that falls after Thanksgiving in the United States of America. Every year, people take advantage of the heavily discounted items that shops put up for sale. For many people, Black Friday signals the beginning of the Christmas shopping period.

• Black Friday always occurs on the day after Thanksgiving. It is the last Friday of the month of November.
• Black Friday is not a national holiday, although many employers give their workers this day off work in addition to Thanksgiving Thursday.
• Black Friday is also known as ‘The Day After Thanksgiving’.
• It’s believed that Black Friday originated in Philadelphia in the early 1960s.
• The name supposedly originates from the moment in the year when retailers begin to turn a profit, and so go from their takings being in the ‘red’ to in the ‘black’.
• Since about 2005, Black Friday has always been the busiest shopping day of the year.
• In recent years, Black Friday has become less important as shops choose to offer discounts over the whole of November and December, and not just on Black Friday.
• Many retailers open their stores from 4 or 5am to entice customers in to get the best deals. Some stores, including Target and Macy’s, open at midnight on Thanksgiving.
• Some retailers even open on Thanksgiving Day itself. This day has become known as ‘Black Thursday’ or ‘Gray Thursday’ by some.
• Many people in the USA will camp outside shops to ensure they are the first customers into the store on Black Friday.
• Because of the number of people trying to bag the bargains, Black Friday often becomes violent and people are injured. Since 2006 there have even been 7 deaths as a result of Black Friday hysteria.
• In 2008, 20,000 shoppers tried to enter a Wal-Mart store in New York, and a shop employee died in the stampede.
• In 2010, shoppers carrying knives and guns were arrested in Wisconsin, Florida and Indianapolis.
• In 2011, people waiting to buy a discounted Xbox 360 in California were sprayed with pepper spray by one desperate customer.
• Black Friday has only recently become a phenomenon in the UK. It wasn’t until 2014 that the day became an event for British shoppers.

What are the Benefits of Black Friday?

Increased Traffic and Sales

People are looking for deals, they’re also shopping for Christmas, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday focus a lot of traffic and sales in a short period. It’s one of the best days for e-commerce sales throughout the whole year.

Last year, we saw sales volumes many times those of an average day on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is a clear opportunity for retailers to capitalize on customer demand and bring extra traffic to their sites.

An Opportunity to Clear Stock Before Christmas Season

Many retailers see Black Friday as an opportunity to clear old inventory in order to introduce newer stock in time for Christmas.

This applies to fashion retailers of course, but electronics retailers can also offer discounts on items like TVs and laptops knowing that newer models are coming soon.

Customer Acquisition

New customer acquisition can be expensive, but Black Friday offers retailers a chance to acquire new customers at a key time of year.

If you acquire customers around Black Friday and keep them happy, then you have a chance to drive repeat sales in the Christmas period and beyond using a good post-purchase email strategy.

If customers can be retained in the longer term and they buy at full price later, this justifies discounting around Black Friday.

Incremental Sales

People have a real intent to purchase around the Black Friday weekend and this can translate into incremental sales.

This means that customers head to sites looking for bargains, but end up buying full-price items as the money is burning a hole in their pockets.

A stats from last year show this propensity to buy. Normally, shopping cart abandonment rates for retailers are around 81%, but they’re much lower around Black Friday weekend.

Easier Fulfilment

One benefit of shifting sales to earlier in the Christmas shopping season is that orders can be processed and shipped well before Christmas.

This means there’s no danger that people won’t receive gifts in time for Christmas, and also frees up capacity for later in the season.

How does Black Friday Affect the Economy?

On Black Fridays, shop owners, and business retailers open their shops earlier than the time they sued to in order to attract more customers and realize more sales. Black Friday often comes with discounts and special promotions, businesses do all they can to attract more customers. Black Friday is often in November but in some cases, retailers offer discounts and open up their sales to the Thanksgiving holiday.

In the U.S, Thanksgiving Day marks the beginning of holidays for most employees, it also signals preparation for Christmas and the festive period. Individuals look forward to Black Fridays to bag great deals and heavy discounts on their purchases, stores also prepare to offer attractive benefits to their customers.

Black Friday is important, not only for buyers but also for retailers. Oftentimes, retailers, whether small or large retailers save up and plan for Black Friday. This day is associated with heavy sale which can spike up the sales margin of a business in a significant way. In fact, many retailers have their yearly budget focus on Black Friday sales, they also spend their entire earnings for the year trying to stock their stores and thereby improving sales.

Retailers use Black Friday to offer deep discounts on a stock that has stayed long in the inventory and attractive bonus on seasonal items. Retailers also make their stores attractive for Black Friday sales, customers are likely to be more attracted to stores that have fancy decorations and look really appealing.

In the United States, there are shopping statistics that show the difference in spending on different regions or states. The southern region, for instance, spends the most according to statistics, in fact, the majority of high spenders come from Austin. Also, statistics reveal that men shop more on Black Fridays than women, the varieties of products they purchase also differ.

Aside from people from Austin, the biggest spenders in the U.S are from San Jose, California, Arizona, Hawaii, Scottsdale, and Connecticut. Age is another factor to be considered when it comes to Black Friday shopping or spending.

People between the age bracket of 50-65 years tend to spend more than individuals within the age bracket of 18-25. The reason is not far-fetched, the former has more savings and higher income while the latter are just striving to make income for themselves.

Black Friday is really important, both to the retailer and customers and even the economy at large. The major importance or significance of Black Friday includes the following;

• It marks the day when people spend a lot of money which in turn circulates within the economy.
• Black Friday is a day associated with increased spending or trading and higher returns when compared to other sales days.
• Black Friday spending is an important metric for evaluating discretionary spending in the U.S.
• Black Friday gives an insight into the economy and overall financial health of a sector.

Despite that Black Friday is associated with increased sales and increased profitability, there are certain exceptions. Black as a word is often used to describe dark days, it signals periods of disasters in the stock market. For instance, the Great Depression can be traced to Black Tuesday which was on October 1929 when the market crashed. Black Monday in October 1987 also marked the day the stock market experienced the biggest crash.

There are numerous examples of disastrous things happening on or after any Black day. The earliest crashes in the stock market in the U.S were associated with black days. A good example was the 1869 crash when the price of gold plummeted and eventually crashed, at this time, the price of gold drooped from $160 to $130, leading to the collapse of the gold market.

Why is it Called Black Friday ‘?

The term “Black Friday” has for years been synonymous with mayhem at stores, and its origin story has roots in turbulence.

Black Friday began in Philadelphia in the 1960s. Tourists would descend on the city on the day between Thanksgiving and the annual Army-Navy football game held on Saturday. Historians say the Philadelphia police took to calling the day Black Friday because officers had to work long hours and deal with terrible traffic, bad weather and other crowd-related miseries.

Local retailers wanted to draw in shoppers that day. But they disliked the term because of the connotation of the word “black” in front of a day of the week, which historically has been used to mark unpleasant events. One was Black Tuesday, the day of the stock market crash of 1929, and another, Black Monday, the day in 1987 when the market lost more, on a percentage basis, than on any day in 1929.

Retailers tried to rebrand the holiday “Big Friday” but were unsuccessful. Businesses later reclaimed the name Black Friday, saying that the day was when stores’ books went from red ink to black.

Retailers have tried more recently to spread the shopping frenzy across multiple days after a succession of injuries and even deaths as shoppers surged into stores in a blind rush for the day’s bargains. And because the holiday shopping season has become so important to retailers’ bottom lines, there is now Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving that is being marketed as a day for online shopping, and Small Business Saturday, which encourages people to shop at local businesses.

Last year, the season started long before Thanksgiving because of supply chain disruptionsthat rose out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Toys and electronics may not arrive in time for the holidays because of manufacturing and shipping delays. Many Americans decided to start their holiday shopping ahead of Thanksgiving.

Why do People Like Black Friday?

Each year in the United States, Black Friday falls the day after Thanksgiving, and as it continues to grow in popularity, it also grows in duration. Instead of stores simply opening their doors an hour or two earlier, many remain open all day Thanksgiving Day or into the evening to start rolling out deals before Friday has even arrived.

Can’t decide whether to participate this year? To help out, we’ve compiled a list of reasons why people like Black Friday. Take a look, and then you decide if you’ll participate this year.

1: Great Deals
Perhaps this is the most obvious benefit. There are some great deals to be had on Black Friday. Prices can be among or even the lowest they’ve been all year on some great gift items. Many people do their research well ahead of time to find out which store they’ll be visiting to get their top Black Friday pick of the season.

2: You Know What You’re Getting
Unlike shopping on Cyber Monday, Black Friday shopping means you get to see, touch, feel, and walk away with your purchases that day rather than waiting for them to show up in the mail later.

3: It Can Be a Friends and Family Affair
Some people look forward to Black Friday every year as a way to spend time with their close friends and family while shopping for holiday gifts. Some team up to make sure they get all the items on their lists.

4: It’s Entertaining
For those who take it seriously, it can provide hours of diversion and entertainment. Some people consider it a hobby of sorts. They scout out ads online, plan shopping lists and routes, and prepare for Black Friday as if it were a marathon, complete with extra rest and fluids before the big event.

5: It Provides Jobs to Retail Employees
While some people are bothered about the fact that retail employees often end up working on Thanksgiving to prepare for Black Friday, it does provide a job and an income to many retail employees who need to provide for themselves and their families. Most employers are required to pay employees extra for working on the holiday and on Black Friday.

Why is Black Friday Important to Consumers?

Traditionally, retailers would roll out a variety of in-store deals on everything from electronics to toys to kick off the Christmas shopping season, opening the stores as early as 5 am. In recent years, however, the shopping frenzy has moved online, with 2018 being a record-breaking year for eCommerce retailers bringing in $6.2 billion in online sales growing by 23.6% compared to the previous year.

With more and more people choosing to carry out their pre-holiday bargain hunting online eCommerce retailers enjoy an unprecedented opportunity to attract new buyers and increase their sales volume.

Key Black Friday eCommerce insights:

• Black Friday shoppers are more likely to shop online than in-store, with more and more people using mobile devices to complete purchases online. Americans are 6 times more likely to buy online on Black Friday compared to sales on any other Friday.
• eCommerce retailers report up to 240% and 380% increases in revenue on Black Friday and Cyber Monday respectively.
• Compared to a normal sales day, online traffic increases up to 220% on Black Friday and 155% on Cyber Monday.
• All-day or longer period sales events are more effective than flash sales.
• More than 70% of Black Friday desktop shoppers spend their money with retailers who offer free shipping.
• The five-day shopping bonanza is an ideal time for e-retailers to clear their stock.

Capturing a share of the growing Black Friday market represents a huge opportunity for eCommerce retailers on the lookout for new sales angles.

How to Prepare For Black Friday

Online Black Friday sales can start as early as Monday of that week, so make sure you’re ready to engage the bargain-hungry shoppers well in advance. Recent years have seen a plethora of Black Friday marketing ideas and the list continues to grow, yet some of the most successful strategies include:

1. Capitalizing on the art of online merchandising. Online merchandising is all about the clever science of displaying the best offers and products on a site in such a way that increases sales. Make sure your best deals are positioned to capture visitors’ attention the second they land on your site. Hero images, banners and pop-ups are commonly used to feature the most prominent offers.  
2. Offering incentives to accelerate social sharing. To generate more sales you need to drive more traffic to your website quickly, that’s why paid social media and Google ads are marketers’ go-to tactics for driving online footfall. However, you can also try to incentivize shoppers to share your promotions and increase social traffic by offering discount coupons. The best spots to place these offers are the homepage, the product page, checkout page, and the order confirmation page. You can also experiment with sticking the coupon in your purchase confirmation email.
3. Creating gift guides. Sales can be overwhelming, so helping your potential customers find the most interesting and relevant offers is one of the best ways to make them open their wallets. Ensure you create several gift guides aimed at different audience segments (gifts for him, gifts for her, gifts for couples, gifts for grandparents, gift ideas for entrepreneurs, etc) and feature them on your homepage as well as in your email marketing campaigns.
4. Taking advantage of emotional triggers. Black Friday shoppers are no different to your regular customers, only that they come to your store already itching to spend money. All you have to do to help them make a purchase is push the right buttons by peppering your website with different emotional triggers. Be sure to feature visually compelling offers (limited discounts, free shipping, referral coupons, free gifts) in premium spots on your website as well as add a live support window (at least for the busiest shopping period), as eager shoppers are always brimming with questions. Exit-intent popups and gift cards have also proved to be particularly effective at grabbing the interest of undecided buyers.

What are the Negatives of Black Friday?

Many people love Black Friday sales and are extremely excited about it. It is a great opportunity to buy Christmas present or entertainment products at very low prices. However, Black Friday has detractors too. Some see it as a consumerist nightmare or argue that Black Friday is a scam. Others simply find it annoying to have to deal with the hordes of shoppers just to save a few dollars.

Let’s see some of the arguments against Black Friday.

• People end up buying things they don’t need and wouldn’t have bought otherwise.
• Some shops keep prices artificially high before Black Friday to be able to announce a larger discount. Analysts have detected even increase in price in the weeks before Black Friday.
• It is not so good for small shops which cannot always compete with the large discounts offered by big retailers.
• Black Friday can be very annoying and a waste of time. There are long queues to try on clothes, ask sellers questions and even pay. Traffic jams are also becoming a tradition.
• Black Friday can be dangerous. People sometimes become very aggressive when trying to get the best deal. Every year there are accidents, injuries, and fights in stores. 
• Black Friday can be perceived as a representation of our economic and cultural regression. Many argue that this is a nonsense expression of consumerism and that it is overshadowing more emblematic traditions such as Thanksgiving.

Do Businesses Benefit from Black Friday?

Local and small retailers may have reservations about offering Black Friday deals. Business owners may wait to provide deals on Small Business Saturday, leaving Thanksgiving weekend for big-box retailers with mass inventory and room to slash prices. But Black Friday gives local stores opportunities to:

• Clean up their inventory: As Black Friday approaches, small businesses can move overstocked or seasonal items to point-of-sale displays — and reduce prices to ensure they sell. This process helps retailers clear slow-moving items to make room for in-demand products that consumers will seek on Black Friday.
• Score first-time customers: People who hunt for deals may go out of their way to shop at stores that they’d otherwise pass up. Black Friday offers chances for stores to attract these first-time customers and create a shopping experience that gives them reasons to become repeat customers.
• Get a revenue boost: Stores shouldn’t assume they must price inventory at a loss to attract customers. Most stores — big and small — move a considerable number of products on Black Friday and the surrounding shopping days, providing a window for generating revenue.

As a business, you can benefit from Black Friday both by saving on business purchases as well as bringing in additional revenue from your own Black Friday sales.

1. Decide what you need

Think of what your business needs now, as well as what you’ll need in the near future in order to execute your overall strategy—office essentials, computers, etc. Classify everything else as a secondary need—these would be less integral purchases, like a coffee machine for the kitchen. That way, you know exactly what your main priorities are and can limit impulse purchases which could lead to overspending.

As well as considering your core business needs, you might also think about the following:

• Office environment: how will purchases impact the space and feel of your office?
• Marketing materials: From hard marketing materials to social media assets, there’s no limit to who might be offering discounts on Black Friday & Cyber Monday, so don’t overlook these areas.
• Legal & accounting solutions: It’s not the most obvious or glamorous subject for a sale, but many legal and accounting experts share their IP (such as bespoke learning materials) to businesses at a significantly reduced cost on Black Friday.
• Learning and Development: Black Friday sees many training providers slash the cost of video courses that would normally be behind a paywall. Gaining free access now could give you advanced access something you know is going to come up later.

2. Do your research

Now that you’ve decided what you need, it’s important to know what the normal prices of these items are (so you know what you’ll save on Black Friday), and devise a safe buying strategy. Price comparison sites like Google Shopping and Pricerunner are also useful tools to determine baseline prices.

Drop into your nearest stores to test products in advance of the day—especially electronics. This will allow you to choose products ahead of time that you know will meet your needs.

Deciding whether you’ll get better deals at brick-and-mortar stores versus shopping online can also pose a challenge. Smaller items tend to be better-priced in-store once you factor in shipping, although many large online retailers now offer free shipping.

Also remember that many online retailers offer their best sales on Cyber Monday, while Black Friday is traditionally when brick-and-mortar stores have their deals. If you’re buying online, make sure you’re on the mailing lists of all your target suppliers so you can pick up the offers as soon as they’re released.

3. Timing is Everything

Some retailers have specific time limits on offers or limited stock availability. While it may be a little extreme to create yourself a Black Friday timetable of offers, keeping your fingers on the pulse as the day progresses is a good strategy.

Apps for major stores may have all the information you need. Retailers like Walmart and Amazon have robust apps that adapt well to offer days like Black Friday. Having them handily tucked away in your pocket is not a bad thing.
Social media is also a great way to track live updates for businesses that may not have such comprehensive apps. Follow the feeds and pages of your favorite stores for the latest!

For your physical journey to stores, getting there early is a great idea. But because you can’t be in several places at once, collaborating with colleagues or employees can be a game-changer here. Divide your list among different stores and decide which person will take which store for the morning rush. This way, you can benefit from multiple store openings rather than just one—just make sure you’re really in sync with one another.

Do People Actually Save Money on Black Friday?

The answer-Yes. On average, in-store discounts fall around the 20 percent off range the week of Thanksgiving and rise to roughly 37 percent savings on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Online Black Friday deals follow suit with an average 34 percent discount.

Let’s look at some strategies to sort through the Black Friday noise, so you can save as much money – and time – as possible.

Not All Deals Are Created Equal

When you see a 55-inch TV on sale for $200, it seems like a great Black Friday deal at first glance. But some manufacturers create specific items for Black Friday that aren’t as well-made as their normal products.

Before picking out a Black Friday deal, do some research on the specific item. Read reviews from insider publications like CNET, Wirecutter and Consumer Reports. Make sure to compare that same product and watch out for similar model numbers.

Skip the Doorbusters

Many stores offer special doorbuster deals that are limited in quantity. These deals usually require you to be at the store when it opens or online at the right time. But unless you’re willing to spend hours waiting in line, it’s almost impossible to snag one of these items.

Once inside the store, most people end up buying something so they don’t feel like they wasted time. Instead of saving money, they end up buying an item they weren’t really there for in the first place.

Make a List

Before Black Friday, write down exactly what you’re looking for, including holiday gifts. Include how much each item costs right now, so you’ll know if the Black Friday deal is really worth it. Be as specific as possible.

Then, when Black Friday deals are announced, compare your list with the store ads. Be ruthless and only buy products that are already on your list. Doing this will ensure that you’re only purchasing items you actually want or need, and not just buying something based on a discount.

When to Shop Instead

Shopping after Christmas and New Year’s can usually yield better deals than shopping on Black Friday. TVs often go on sale right before the Super Bowl, while mattresses and bedding deals usually happen in February. Laptops and computers often go on sale in the late summer, right before school starts.

Consider the Time Investment

When you shop on Black Friday, whether you’re braving the chaos of the local mall or the confusion of your favorite retailer’s website, it’s costing you time and energy. If you have family over for Thanksgiving, you may be missing out on quality time you won’t get back.

Think about how shopping makes you feel compared to how being around your loved ones makes you feel. Even if you can save hundreds of dollars by waking up at 6 a.m. to go shopping – and there’s no guarantee that you will – is it really worth the tradeoff?

Which Country does not Participate in Black Friday?

In recent years, the adoption of Black Friday has become more and more prevalent globally. Currently, of the world’s 195 countries, an estimated 50-60% “celebrate” Black Friday in some form or another. 

For example, in Europe, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany all started to adopt Black Friday within the last three to four years. Central and South American countries have also started promoting Black Friday. China and southeastern Asia participate in Black Friday, and almost half of Africa celebrates Black Friday in some way.

The following countries observe Black Friday:

• Albania
• Angola
• Argentina 
• Armenia
• Australia*
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh (Due to the early 2000’s fires, people protest Black Friday.)
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize (Their Black Friday runs from November 15-19.)
• Bhutan
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brazil*
• Brunei Darussalam
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Cabo Verde
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada*
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Denmark
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador 
• Egypt (Jumia.com.eg)
• El Salvador
• Estonia
• Fiji
• Finland
• France* (Partial adoption of Black Friday.)
• Georgia
• Germany* (Adopted Black Friday in 2018.)
• Ghana (Jumia.com.gh)
• Greece (Black Friday is celebrated on a different date, and it doesn’t seem to be very popular.)
• Guam/Micronesia 
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India*
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy*
• Jamaica
• Japan*
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya (Jumia.co.ke)
• Kosovo
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyz Republic
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macau, China
• Macedonia
• Malaysia
• Mali
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Mexico*
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Mozambique (Black Friday introduced in 2015.)
• Namibia
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua (They seem to observe Black Friday, with a focus on travel-related products.)
• Niger (Jumia)
• Nigeria (Jumia’s home country.)
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Panama
• Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Romania
• Russia
• Rwanda
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Samoa
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal (Jumia.sn)
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Singapore*
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain* (Singles Day is bigger than Black Friday here.)
• Sri Lanka (Black Friday introduced in 2016.)
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan, China
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• The Bahamas
• Tunisia (Jumia.com.tn)
• Turkey
• UAE* (Singles Day is bigger than Black Friday here.)
• Uganda
• UK*
• United States*
• Uruguay
• Vietnam 
• Zambia

Which countries don’t celebrate Black Friday around the world?

We took Wikipedia’s list of world countries organized by economic freedom and worked my way in reverse order through their list. Unsurprisingly, many countries that are vocal in their opposition of capitalism and consumerism do not support Black Friday (or any other shopping holiday). That includes countries like North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, and Afghanistan. 

Some countries like Tajikistan, however, simply don’t understand the reasoning behind Black Friday.

In a blog article on Kiva, the unnamed author recounts how he and Tajikistani friends watched American shoppers rush a Walmart store for its deep discounts.

“Was it free?” they asked in shock, not understanding why so many would storm a retailer just for a 30% discount. The cultural difference is apparent in the post.

For other countries that don’t support Black Friday, it’s primarily because they lack the financial freedom to do so. In fact, many of those places relate Black Friday to negative periods in their history.

Bangladesh, a country that provides manufacturing capabilities for many of the large U.S. retailers, holds protests on Black Friday. They oppose the high demands that come with the holiday.

Still, Bangladesh does have its own shopping festival. It happens around the same time as Black Friday and is called Fatafati Friday (it began in 2017).

In many countries, “Black Friday” has an entirely different historical meaning. Those Fridays have nothing to do with shopping, as in Burma. Black Friday in Burma is remembered as a day of massacre on May 30, 2003 (although, they, too, have started to hint at adopting the sales holiday).

How do you Attract Customers on Black Friday?

Consumers as well as competitors, have their eyes and hopes fixed on Thanksgiving sales 2022. The expectations are too high this year, so plan smartly for the biggest shopping event of the year. Give more attention to your marketing because that’s a great way to reach potential buyers.

Here are a few ideas and strategies for increasing sales on Black Friday 2022:

1. Strengthen your acquisition strategies

Black Friday sales give you an opportunity to acquire new customers for your retail business. Moreover, if you manage to keep these customers happy, there are chances they might purchase again during Christmas. You surely wouldn’t want to miss repeat sales, so ensure you give extra attention to your acquisition strategies.

Track your current acquisition process and see how successful you are in getting new customers. Identify the areas of improvement and work on it to increase your customer base in Thanksgiving 2022.

2. Plan your discounts wisely

Thanksgiving sales are filled with deals and offers from your competition all over the US. To surpass your competitors and win more profit, you need to be careful as well as creative while planning your discount. Slashing the price to half isn’t the only way to attract customers.

You can give them a discount coupon that they can use for future purchases or offer a less-popular product for free.

It is all about adding value to your customer’s purchases. Even with the discount, the chances of earning profits is higher as there is a massive volume of people who are willing to spend happily on Black Friday sales.

3. Create a sense of urgency

Instilling a sense of urgency is the best way to boost conversions during Black Friday. It is necessary to develop the fear of missing out (FOMO) on something good.

 While running advertising campaigns, don’t forget to mention how many days are left. Count the minute with them by displaying online timer and build hype. Create the urge to take immediate action by mentioning words like

• “Shop now”
• “limited time offer”
• “limited number available”
• “Don’t miss it”

4. Promote your product

Promotional marketing is crucial for boosting your Black Friday sales. Spread the news about your deal far and wide with the right promotion. Use all the medium available like social media, emails, websites, e-magazine, or newspapers. Make use of WooCommerce and Shopify product reviews to boost trust among first-time buyers.

Wear the creative hat and come up with unique content. Buyers shouldn’t only be aware but also excited about your ‘Black Friday’ sales.

Focus more on targeted advertising to reach a niche audience. Create GIF or video about the product you are about to offer on Black Friday sales 2022 to generate buzz and develop an interest in the upcoming discounts.

5. Create compelling emails

Emails are a great medium to reach your buyers and spread awareness about your special discounts. Try to create a bond with your customers by personalizing these emails. The more you advertise your deals through these emails, the better are the chances of increasing sales on Black Friday.

Make the emails as engaging as possible to capture your customer’s interest. Ensure you track the sent emails to find out if your potential buyers are reading or ignoring your emails. Even the competitors might be trying to reach your customer’s inbox. So, you need to create a visually appealing email that stands out amongst the other emails.

• Create an impactful subject line
• Keep the main body of the email precise yet interesting
• Add an enticing call to action (CTA)

6. Segment and target potential buyers

Segmentation helps you in staying on track and supports your marketing efforts. So, create different segments as per people’s behavior. For instance, separate people who abandoned the cart in one segment and those who opened your offer emails in the other segment. You can create sequences to send follow-up emails and texts to the prospects who have abandoned the cart.

Read Also: Should Business be Market-focused or Product-focused?

Smart filters and tags in Salesmate CRM can help segment your potential buyers. This will help you in targeting them respectively with personalized email campaigns.

7. Use the power of social media

Make the most of the social media platforms to generate buzz about the upcoming Thanksgiving sales. Run engaging campaigns, post exciting ads, host special contests, and upload informative videos.

Spread awareness about your product and deals through popular social media sites like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Use tools like Buffer and Hootsuite to manage all your social media accounts efficiently from one place.

With such tools, you can even track the effectiveness of your social media campaigns and make required changes accordingly. Don’t forget to use popular (trending) hashtags such as #blackfriday, #thanksgiving, #retail, #sales or #blackfridaysales2022, #thanksgivingsales2022 for your posts.

8. Start a PPC advertising campaign 

PPC is a costly game but a great marketing tactic to increase the visibility of your offers and deals. So run Pay-Per-Clicks (PPC) advertising campaigns before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

 You need to ponder over many things before running a PPC ad campaign. The wrong ad and the wrong bid can ruin the day for you. Therefore you need to be very careful while planning your Black Friday PPC campaigns.

Due to the popularity of the shopping event, you might have to bid a little more aggressively for your chosen keywords. PPC is a great marketing strategy for people who are familiar with Google Ads. If you haven’t used it before or are new to it, then you should take the help of the expert for using it during Black Friday sales.

9. Know what’s the competitor doing

To step ahead of your competitors, you need to know what they are doing to attract customers on Black Friday. It’s great if you are acquainted with all your competitors, if not then research and create a list without delay. Browse your competitor’s website and follow their social media activities.

Check, what kind of message they are trying to convey and which creative strategy are they using for driving engagement. Ensure you have signed up for their newsletter to get all the updates about their Thanksgiving sales in 2022.

10. Learn from the previous year

You wouldn’t want to repeat the same mistakes of 2018 for Thanksgiving sales in 2022. So looking back, there is a wealth of valuable information in the previous year’s sales data. If you have consolidated reports, then study them minutely to find out your best-selling products and get a better understanding of your consumer needs.

• See which products are preferred more by the customers and which you need to bundle.
• Analyze what kind of promotional content drives traffic.
• Assess customer behavior and understand their buying patterns.

If you haven’t been using reporting tools, then start it right now so that you don’t have to face similar difficulties while planning for Black Friday sales in 2022.

11. Retarget past customers

Customers who have purchased from you in the past have the possibility of buying again. So, approach these customers. We hope you might have saved their contact details in your database, if not then do it this year without fail. Saving your customer details can help you in reaching out to them before the big sales.

You can send them texts or emails to inform them about upcoming sales and offers. For making the work easier, you can opt for a CRM software with text messages. So, besides streamlining your high-value client’s contact details systematically you can even send bulk messages in seconds and inform maximum buyers about your special offers.