If you’re a shopaholic, chances are that you’ve been drooling over the Black Friday deals which had your American cousins and friends making a beeline to the stores last Friday.

What is it?

In the US, the day after Thanksgiving is designated as Black Friday. It marks the start of the holiday and shopping season for the year, when retailers offer mouth-watering discounts on their merchandise to woo cash-happy shoppers to their stores.

While there’s no accurate account of how a shopping festival earned the moniker ‘Black’ Friday, there are two popular stories about the term’s origin. One is that it probably originated in Philadelphia, with locals noting the chaos that ensued the day after Thanksgiving when hordes of shoppers from nearby suburbs descended into their city. Retailers offered big promotions ahead of the Army/Navy football game which takes place every year. It is said that it was a black day for law enforcement, which had a tough time dealing with the traffic and the mayhem created by crowds flooding the pavements and parking lots.

The other story is that retailers who operated on losses through the year, with their ledgers marked in red, got to turn around their finances and get back into the black on this day. The day after Thanksgiving, it is said that holiday shoppers spend so much money on goods and services offered on discount, that retailers turned around in a single day, earning it the description of Black Friday. In more recent years, Black Friday had earned notoriety for fist-fights and skirmishes between shoppers eager to lay their hands on the merchandise.

Why is it important?

Consumers in the US rely quite heavily on the discounts and offers rolled out on Black Friday and defer their big purchases throughout the year to time them to this day. It is seen as the best time to buy luxury merchandise, including household appliances, electronics and designer clothes. The discounts offered by retail giants such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Macy’s range anywhere between 20 per cent and 50 per cent.

Retailers on their part make special arrangements to maintain sufficient stocks and woo the crowds. For instance, companies such as Walmart, Kmart and Target try to attract customers by remaining open all night and providing convenient check-outs and parking space.

Stock market investors and analysts use the sales numbers clocked during Black Friday as an indicator of consumer sentiment for the year ahead, with retail industry stocks swinging to Black Friday sales and footfall numbers. Lately, Cyber Monday, the Monday following Black Friday, has become the D-Day for online retailers to roll out their own deals on gadgets and electronic merchandise.

Why should I care?

The US economy, like the Indian economy, thrives on consumerism and the importance of events like Black Friday cannot be underestimated. Driving to a store one day before, waiting in line, pushing and shoving, and even risking physical harm to buy something at a discount may be losing relevance these days, with the advent of online shopping where something is always on sale.

Brick-and-mortar retailers are now beginning to offer Black Friday deals right from the beginning of November and continuing till the end of the holiday season.

The mad rush and the acts of violence around this day have thus dwindled in recent times. But to many consumers, Black Friday is still worth the hype because of the wide range of products with steep price cuts available for the taking.

The bottomline

Call it Big Billion Day, Singles Day or Black Friday. The name doesn’t matter if you’re looking for an excuse to shop.

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