Black Friday should be more restrained this year

THIS year, Black Friday falls on November 27 and then the following Monday is Cyber Monday when stores online in particular reduce prices to promote trade.

In the past, shops have made some exceptional discounts on selected products in order to get people through their doors and often there have been quite unseemly struggles as bargain hunters fight with each other to get their hands on the prizes.

2020 will have to be different and some larger businesses are making all of their best offers online in order to protect both staff and customers from large crowds which would see social distancing completely ignored.

Like many other marketing ideas this one started in the USA and became popular about 20 years ago  as the day after Thanksgiving was when people start to think about their Christmas shopping and took the day off following the Thursday public holiday.

Some argue that the name Black Friday originated in Philadelphia due to the volume of pedestrian and vehicle traffic which occurred on that day and it has since been adopted all over the world.

Another suggestion is that it is the day when retail stores start going into profit for the year, with their accounts coming out of the red and going into the black.

Whatever the reason, this has become a popular day to look for bargains and Spain has adopted the concept although in the current climate there may not be much room to cut prices in smaller businesses which have been hard hit by the various restrictions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Black Friday should be more restrained this year”.