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Torn between reduced purchasing power and a growing movement to “buy less, fix more”, the run-up to Black Friday in 2023 has never been so tense between contradictions and questioning for both consumer and retailer. A recent communication from the French association, ADEME, urges people to think carefully before making unnecessary compulsive purchases, fuelled by the temptation of this event’s bargains.
Black Friday – The traditional start to the holiday shopping season
The ultimate day of consumer frenzy, ‘Black Friday’ was traditionally the day of discount shopping which followed Thanksgiving (always on a Thursday towards the end of November). In the United States of America, the Thanksgiving weekend marked the start of the holiday shopping season where customers would be enticed into stores by heavy discounts and specials offers exclusively on Black Friday for a duration of 24 hours.
Unlike Black Friday, a traditional in-store event, Cyber Monday emerged in 2005 as an online-only event, particularly specializing in electronics and technology products. Cyber Monday extends the discounts of the Black Friday weekend with particularly attractive offers on electronics and home appliances.
From Black Friday to Black November
As online channels have boomed and additional promotional days have been introduced, Black Friday has changed from a 24 hour in-store experience to a month-long series of promotions and discounts. Over time, Black Friday has changed little by little to ‘Black Friday weekend’ and some retailers have expanded the promotional period to the whole of November, desperate to entice customers to start their shopping as early as possible.
Within a context of high inflation, reduced purchasing power and lowered consumer confidence, in 2023 the profile of the bargain shopper is more complex than ever.
A cry for pricing transparency
Exit the Black Friday tricks used by many retailers to make their prices and discounts as attractive as possible (increasing the RRP two months before Black Friday and then making a “40% discount” on a false RPP etc etc). Now that the consumer has price trackers and search engine history to hand, retailers are forced to move towards a more transparent pricing policy to prove that the special offers really are “special”. As a result, many retailers are having to work harder at building and retaining customer loyalty to compensate for simple price comparison. Other retailers are making the choice to avoid Black Friday promotions all together and focus on building long term strategy.
Green Friday - a more responsible alternative ?
As a response to the spending frenzy of Black Friday, Green Friday was created in 2017 to encourage consumers to spend in a more responsible manner. This means encouraging people to avoid over attractive special offers and not be seduced into compulsive purchases. Green Friday supporters underline the excessive waste generated by traditional Black Friday campaigns, from the disproportionate amount of waste generated through compulsive buying through to the increase in carbon emissions linked to the surge in deliveries over a short period of time. While Black Friday and Green Friday seem to be two opposite and incompatible events, Green Friday advocates are keen to deny the juxtaposition, preferring to warn against excessive purchasing rather than fighting directly against the concept of Black Friday.
Caught between the need to tighten the budget and a desire to reduce their environment impact, customers are increasingly looking to buy from eco-responsible and ethical brands and offset their purchases by choosing greener and slower delivery options.
