Origin, Favorite Deals, Advantages and Disadvantages
In short: Black Friday originated in the USA in the 1960s, initially as a term for the traffic and crowds after Thanksgiving. Later, it transformed into the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season with huge discounts, especially on electronics, household appliances, and fashion. Advantages include the low prices and the festive atmosphere; disadvantages lie in the pressure to buy and the sometimes questionable discounting practices.
Origins and Development
Black Friday has its roots in the United States and is closely linked to the Thanksgiving holiday. As early as the 19th century, the Friday after Thanksgiving was considered the start of the Christmas shopping season, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that it received its current name. In Philadelphia, police officers used to refer to it as “Black Friday” because the city center was engulfed in traffic chaos after the holiday and the stores were flooded with crowds. From this rather negative term, a marketing tool gradually developed that retailers used to attract customers with special price promotions.
Preferred Offers
The first major discount campaigns focused primarily on consumer goods popular for the holidays: televisions, radios, kitchen appliances, and later, computers and game consoles. Clothing and toys were also among the preferred items offered at heavily discounted prices from the beginning. Services initially played a minor role, as Black Friday was long considered a classic retail event. However, with the rise of online shopping, the landscape has changed, and today digital offerings, streaming subscriptions, and travel are also part of the discount wave.
Advantages
The advantages of Black Friday are obvious: For many people, it’s an opportunity to purchase coveted products at significantly lower prices. It marks the beginning of the festive shopping season, builds anticipation for Christmas, and creates a certain excitement that has almost become part of the ritual. Retailers, in turn, benefit from enormous sales and increased brand awareness.
Disadvantages
But the bright side also has its downsides. The discounts aren’t always as big as they seem, and some price promotions turn out, upon closer inspection, to be clever marketing tricks. Moreover, the day creates enormous consumer pressure, which can tempt people to buy more than they actually need. For the environment, Black Friday means an additional burden due to production, packaging, and transportation. And last but not least, the hunt for bargains can also cause stress when people crowd into packed stores or spend hours searching online for supposed deals.
Ambivalent Fascination
Thus, Black Friday is now a global phenomenon that oscillates between anticipation and overwhelm. It combines the desire to save with the risk of overconsumption – and therein lies its ambivalent fascination.
A Brief Comparison: Then and Now
While Black Friday used to be primarily a brick-and-mortar event, focusing on large, tangible purchases like televisions, household appliances, clothing, and toys, it has now transformed into a broad, digital phenomenon. Besides traditional technology and fashion, online exclusive deals, bundles, and time-limited offers now dominate, and services like streaming subscriptions, cloud software, delivery services, and travel are firmly established. Instead of single daily deals, there are often promotions extended over days or weeks, which utilize early access, coupon stacks, and online price comparisons – less queuing at store openings, more clicks, algorithm-driven recommendations, and constant, enticing visibility.