The Globalization of Black Friday
It’s the last week of November, which for Americans means that Thanksgiving is just around the corner. While for some this means getting away and going home for the short holiday break, Thanksgiving has also increasingly become the holiday that marks the start of a near endless rollout of sales, deals, and insane holiday gift shopping. The irony of giving thanks for the things which we already have on Thursday and then hitting the shopping malls to acquire all which we do not yet own on Friday does not seem to be a deterrent for the consumer culture created by Black Friday. For most companies, it is such a profitable time that they extend their typical sale period into the following week, now known as Cyber Monday.
“Almost Black Friday Sale” by Urban Outfitters. Via: www.urbanoutfitters.com
But the shopping holiday has expanded, with companies offering sales the week leading up to Black Friday and the week following it as well, so as to encourage more spending. In the U.S., shoppers collectively spend an estimated $14.5 billion during this period every year.
Interestingly enough, the all-American shopping holiday is now also beginning to spread around the world. From France to Argentina to Japan, people and companies all around the world are beginning to quite literally buy into the phenomenon of Black Friday.
The globalization of Black Friday started around 2010, when companies like Amazon realized the potential to seriously profit from this holiday and expanded their sales to the U.K. From there, it began to spread through other international sales giants and garnered market competition. The more attractive the online sales were for U.S.-based companies, the more local retailers had to compete with the prices and discounts offered by companies abroad. Now, Black Friday is as much a global phenomenon as it is a uniquely American holiday.
However much it spreads around the world, it is a curious fact that wherever Black Friday occurs, the advertisements for it are always in English, regardless of which countries the sales are occuring in. It is not unusual to see a Black Friday sale sign written entirely in a foreign language except for the bolded, stand-out phrase “Black Friday” on it. In a way, the holiday has begun to globally export not only sale prices, but also American shopping culture.
For more insane numbers on Black Friday, read this World Economics Forum summary: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/black-friday-in-numbers/
Feature image via.
