The story of Black Friday goes all the way back to the 1950, but the concept has changed several times since then. Today, the one-day sales bonanza has morphed into a four-day event, and even a full week event, and spawned other “retail holidays” such as Singles Day and Cyber Monday. It is not unusual that stores, both physical and digital, start their sales already in the beginning of November and continue more or less with discounts all the way until Christmas.
A Shift in Black Friday Consumer Behavior
However, in recent years, as consumers have become more environmentally conscious, many businesses have decided to boycott the Black Friday shopping hysteria.
According to Johan Sommar, Avensia’s Chief Strategist, there has been a shift in customer behavior during Black Friday in both physical and e-commerce shopping during recent years:
“Until recently, companies could piggyback on the whole Black Friday thing and increase sales. But now, they need a rather aggressive offer in order to attract both existing customers and new ones. It is not enough to present an OK offer or discount and think it will automatically generate high sales and traffic numbers. This also makes the whole question about Black Friday sales more important for most companies to decide on – all in or not at all“, he concludes.
